I'll hold your hand while you walk through hell
by lady-lunastar
Summary: Can you watch someone you love walk through hell alone? The events of Fannysmackin threaten to ruin the one thing Greg has wanted all along. Follow up to Flashback Spoilers for season seven/eight
1. Adopted

I'll hold your hand while you walk through hell.

I don't own CSI or anything related to it…if I did I would be set for life. In fact my media professor told us if we ever meet the guy who created CSI, don't feel bad and pick his pocket and take one of his credit cards and have fun with it, he's loaded. Anyway, I don't own any of the songs in the story, so don't sue me, you won't get anything. Spoilers for season seven

Notes-This is the third in my Greg/Jenna series. I've been working on this one for awhile…it's what kept me awake in my math class last term. In fact I had planned to go right to this one after Flashback, but I thought I should have at least some sort of bridge between the two, but I do not like where I am with Getting to Know You All over Again. So I'm just going to call that one finished and jump right to this one. If I get unstuck with my bridge I'll go back to it, but I have a feeling that one is done.

Summary-Set during season seven and start of season eight. Can you watch someone you love walk through hell alone? The events of Fannysmackin threaten to ruin the one thing Greg has wanted all along.

Adopted

October 2006

Jenna used her hip to open the door to their apartment because her hands were full. In one hand she had Greg's suit that she picked up from the dry cleaners, her other hand was holding a bag of Jimmy John's sandwiches. She was tried from unpacking all day and sandwiches sounded damn good. The sounds of Marilyn Manson greeted her when she finally got the door shut. She looked over and saw Greg had his head buried in a case file and she cleared her throat loudly, scaring Greg.

"No don't get up and help me or anything. I'll just drop your suit and you can talk on the stand in a wrinkled suit. Maybe I'll even let Gabriel sleep on it, I'm sure his gray fuzzy will show up really nice on this brown suit. Greg took the suit out of her hands and gave her kiss.

"Your kitty will lose one of its nine lives if he sleeps on this suit." Jenna made a face.

"You know if we're going to do this living together thing, you need to more understanding of Gabriel, he's a big baby who needs love." Jenna sat the sandwiches down and picked up Gabriel and started petting him. "That's right you're just a big baby who needs love. Daddy should understand that, he's almost has needy as you are." The old male cat just purred and gave Greg a look that said to back off.

"I am not that evil little fuzzy balls father…there would have to be some weird genetics in play or one drunken night of fun that I was not aware of." Jenna stuck her tongue out at him and put the cat back on the couch.

"I got you dinner, be a little nicer towards my fuzzy offspring." Jenna grabbed a sandwich and cleared some room off on the table. Right now, things were still in disarray, they had decided to move in together late this summer, they had been dating for almost a year and considering Greg had ask her to move in with him once over eight years ago the time seemed right to take that step.

Thankful, wedding season was over and it made it easier for Jenna to move from Henderson to the apartment in Vegas that was closer to where she was working over ninety five percent of the time anyway. Her mother asked her not to sell the house though, she was thinking about coming back to Nevada and it made sense for her to re-move in to her house. Jenna had spent the last two weeks moving and the apartment was still sort of cluttered from two different people trying to fit their lives together.

"I think I'll finish the office tonight. That only leaves the bedroom and living room to finish unpacking," said Jenna taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Oh what…sorry," said Greg. He had put his suit away and was buried in the case file again. Jenna gave him a look.

"I haven't even been living with you a full two weeks yet and you're already ignoring me. Gee I can feel the warm fuzzies growing."

"Nah, I'm just really nervous about tomorrow. It's my first jury trial and I really want to drive the nails into this guy's coffin."

"Is this about the guy who drowned his wife and baby? Trust me; the court of public opinion already has this guy in the chair with a needle ready. Unless you show them video evidence that he was somewhere else that night that guy is going away forever." Greg raised his eyebrow.

"It's nice to see the jury of the public is so ready to convict. So I guess my job is sort of pointless."

"No, you give people the proof that he is a scum bag and should be resting with a needle in his arm. You're going to do fine, you've been with this case since it started and know it inside and out. If they don't buy the evidence, just flash them that sexy smile your mom coughed up God knows what for in braces." Greg grinned.

"How sexy is it?"

"Oh you know," Jenna went to kiss him when her cell phone went off. She smirked and answered the phone.

"Mean tease," muttered Greg returning to his sandwich and case file.

"Hi, puff a lump," said Jenna tapping Greg upside his head. "Yeah I'm all moved and Mama Clarissa is going to be living in the house again soon so you won't be losing your swing set. How's Peanut…oh well honey he's a baby they throw up. Why was your doll in the crib with him? I'm sure someday when he gets bigger he'll understand that you just wanted to play and that throwing up on your Cabbage Patch Doll is not cool." Jenna just grinned and rolled her eyes at her five year old niece Anya explaining why Jordan aka Peanut shouldn't have thrown up on her doll.

"Can I talk to Tío Greg?" asked Anya. Jenna's grin got wider and she poked Greg.

"Someone would like to talk to you." Greg took the phone from Jenna. He was fond of Jenna's niece, he had fun explaining what his job was to her last Christmas and teaching her what DNA was, she caught on quickly for a five year old.

"Hi Tío." Greg frowned confused by what she had just called him.

"Hi Puffy what's up?"

"Peanut threw up on my Cabbage Patch Doll. I was trying to play with him and he threw up on her."

"Did your mommy wash it?"

"Duh she had too silly, but she doesn't like the washer, it spins and it makes a lot of noise."

"But she's all clean again?"

"Yeah, but it still sucks that he did that." In the background Greg could hear Frankie yelling at Anya to watch her mouth.

"I got to go now Tío, be nice to Gabriel and Tia or else," said Anya in the most serious voice that could come out of a five year old and Greg forced himself not to laugh.

"I'll try, bye sweetheart."

"Bye!" called out Anya and he hung up the phone. Jenna just grinned at him and finished her sandwich.

"So Tío did you like your little chat with my puff a lump?" asked Jenna.

"What does Tío mean anyway? Are you two making fun of me behind my back?" Jenna just laughed.

"You've been adopted like or not. Tío means uncle, Tío Greg…Uncle Greg. I think it's very sweet. I'm going to finish the office now." Gabriel jumped off the couch and followed her to the second spare bedroom. Greg shook his head and went back to the case file; Jenna had turned off his Manson and put in some Oasis. Greg frowned and went into the office where Jenna was moving bookshelves and singing along with Liam Gallagher.

_So I start a revolution from my bed  
'Cause you said the brains I had went to my head  
Step outside the summertime's in bloom  
Stand up beside the fireplace  
Take that look from off your face  
You ain't ever gonna burn my heart out_

And so Sally can wait, she knows it's too late as we're walking on by  
Her soul slides away, but don't look back in anger  
I heard you say

"I was listening to that, it helps me focus," said Greg, Jenna shrugged and started unpacking books.

"I want something a little mellower and I've had that song stuck in my head all day and I wanted to hear it. Compromise with me here or your going to be unpacking your own shit." Jenna turned back to the box and got some more books on the shelf, when Greg wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her hair.

"Let's take a break."

"I just started unpacking in here."

"I think you left something in the bedroom that needed unpacking…besides we really need to break in this place. I think we should start in here and end in the bedroom," whispered Greg, Jenna started to squirm against him and she grinned.

"So you're not going to ignore me anymore?"

"I think I'll win the jury over with that sexy smile you were talking about."

"See good things happen when you listen to me," said Jenna kissing him.


	2. The best day ever

The greatest day ever

"So has you can see all the epithelial cells are fresh, he would have to be with the victims at time of death to cause fresh epithelial cells to be found on them," explained Greg.

"But, Mr. Wolrahn lived with his wife and child, couldn't the cells have come from just living together," asked ADA Ellrick

"Cells get exchanged everyday, but these cells were fresh." Greg clicked the power point and showed a side by side comparison of three day old epithelial cells and the ones they found on the victim. "And according to Mr. Wolrahn's statement he hadn't seen his wife in three days. If that was the case, the cells would look like the slide on the left. However the cells we found on Mrs. Wolrahn and her son look like the cells on the right. That suggest the cells were exchanged at least within an hour time frame of death, placing him at the crime scene," said Greg.

"No more questions," said Ellrick walking back to her table.

"Does the defense have any questions?" asked the Judge. The defense was unprepared and he really couldn't fight what Greg had said and had no questions for Greg and he was dismissed.

Greg got off the stand and he had to fight the urge to dance on the table and walked back to the gallery. Oh god he loved the look and that son of bitch's face when he busted his alibi.

_Yeah enjoy what time you have left outside of a cell douche bag, I hope some dude named Jim Bob makes you his prison bitch. _Greg sat back and watched the other witnesses testify about how the jerk had treated his wife, the affairs and how he really didn't want the kid to start with and how his wife was finally going to dump his ass and start over.

_Yeah a guy named Jim Bob and I hope he trades you for a pack of smokes! _ The judge called it a day and the jury would start looking over the case tomorrow morning. Greg went to get up and leave when the ADA caught up with him.

"Mr. Sanders." She gave him a megawatt smile and patted his back. "That testimony you gave will really help us convict that baby killing asshole. So what are your plans for dinner?" Greg had to grin, back in the day cute ADA's wouldn't have given him the time of day and he knew that if he wasn't with Jenna he would have been hooking up with Ellrick.

_Wow how the times have changed_. Ellrick was a very cute blond and was very slender, but he really had no interest in her. He was really looking forward to celebrating his kick ass moment with Jenna. He couldn't wait to see her face when he told her how he was a little bit responsible for making sure this guy didn't get away with murder.

"Actually, I have no dinner plans at the moment, but that may change." Ellrick smile dimmed a little.

"Girlfriend. I should have figured as much. Well, if she lets you off your chain, I'll be at the Tillerman's around six, my treat. Later." She got on the elevator and Greg had to shake his head.

_Ladies are now throwing themselves at you and you don't give a damn…wow she really has your head turned?_

Greg just walked down the stairs; Jenna did have his head turned. He really loved what they had together and he wasn't about to screw that up for anything. They had been seeing each other for over a year and were starting to have the relationship they got screwed out of years ago. He loved that he didn't have to go home to an empty apartment and that she would always be there to listen to him talk about his day no matter how shitty it was. He got into his car and decided to pick Jenna up some late lunch and see how she reacted to the open invitation.

She almost snorted out her gyro when he told about how Ellrick threw herself at him.

"Wow, many times did you flash that sexy smile around? I should have warned you what it does to people…especially women who are needy. If you want to go I have no issue with it." Greg looked up from his fries.

"Really?"

"Yeah, if you read between the lines of bullshit it's her way of saying you did a good job. You should be proud of yourself."

"I am and I wanted to take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate me burying that guy." Jenna frowned.

"I have a meeting to sort out my pre-signed contracts with the late Sam Braun. Since he's dead, his lawyers are seeing what my new contracts entailed and if I get to stay signed on with him. How does breakfast sound, I'll make you blintzes with strawberries on one condition."

"And what condition is that?"

"You have to wear that sexy suit to breakfast and I get to take if off afterwards." Now it was Greg's turn to choke on his gyro.

"Wow I thought Ellrick was direct, but you outdo her." Jenna gave him her evil grin and she walked over to where he was sitting and she played with his tie  
"It's the tie; it makes me think naughty things." Greg just grinned at her.

"I'll wear it just for you…so what rooms do we have left?"

"Bathroom…hall closet."

"Sounds good."

"Just remember one thing about this dinner," said Jenna finished her gyro.

"What's that?"

"I have a museum policy with guys I date. You can look at anything you want, but if I find out that you touched it, I'll kill you."

"Rather harsh museum you're running there."

"It works though. I have to get back to work. So I'll see you in morning for breakfast." He gave her a kiss on the check.

"I'll be there." She smiled at him and he left her office.

Greg walked into the Tillerman's around six and spotted Ellrick at a table near the window. She had changed from her drab lawyer's outfit into a red Lyrca dress that calling it low cut was an understatement.

_Oh god Jenna's is going to laugh her ass off when you tell her about this._

"ADA Ellrick," said Greg sitting down and she let out a laugh.

"Please we're not in court you can call me Allison."

"Ok, Allison." Greg was wondering what fresh hell he had gotten himself into when the waiter came to take their drink orders.

"Water please," said Greg.

"Nonsense, I would like a bottle of Pinot Grigio: Santa Margarita 2005."

"Wow…umm thanks, but I'll stick with the water." She flashed him that megawatt smile and gave the waiter the wine order.

"I told you it was my treat and you're not on shift." Greg was now really wondering what he had gotten himself into when she poured him a glass.

"Thanks," Greg took a sip and placed his dinner order for some sea bass.

"So your girlfriend let you off your chain," said Ellrick downing her glass.

"Actually, she told me that she had a museum policy that I can look at anything I want, but she'll kill me if I touch it." Ellrick laughed again and offered to pour Greg more wine and he shook his head no.

"I have to go on shift later on tonight." Ellrick gave him a look.

"She must be one hell of a woman. I'm plying you with free wine and food, I'm dressed rather slutly and I think you're the first man to ever turn me down." Greg shrugged.

"Don't take it personally…but I'm really in love with her. I've kind of been in love with her for a long time and while you're very hot you're not worth throwing away one of the greatest relationship I've ever been in." She nodded.

"So can we keep me throwing myself at you a secret?"

"I don't keep secrets from my girlfriend," said Greg sipping more of his wine.

………………………………

He unlocked the apartment door and wasn't surprised that Jenna wasn't there, she told him she would be meeting with lawyers and he had feeling it would tie her up almost all night. Gabriel gave him a look and went back to sleep. Greg made it a point to ruffle the cat's head when he walked into the living room. He flipped the lights on and sat the roses down and filled the vase he bought with water. He cut the roses and placed them in vase. Greg once told Nick that normal romance was boring and was more interested in a girl's DNA than her.

_It's only boring if the girl is boring._ And Jenna was far from boring and he was really looking forward to breakfast later on. He was down right giddy, today had kicked so much ass today. He grabbed his stuff for work and ruffled the cat's head again, causing him to glare at Greg.

"You know I love you!" said Greg before walking out.

…………………………….

The lab was busy when Greg walked in and dropped his stuff off in his locker. He heard Mandy and Henry talking about a dish washer who had been beaten to death while walking to his car and supposedly a second victim was all ready en route to the hospital.

"I don't get senseless meaningless violence," said Mandy. "I can understand the old fashioned 'I came home and saw my wife screwing the pool boy violence' but this is retarded violence."

"Isn't all violence really pointless and retarded when you get down to it?" asked Henry.

"Oh come on, Greg…if you saw someone trying to hurt Jenna wouldn't you beat the shit out of them?" asked Mandy.

"She could probably kick their asses without my help. Is Grissom in?"

"No, he's still at a scene. Catherine needed some help with the first's victim's stuff," said Mandy.

"Oh congrats for nailing that guy! Way to represent the lab," said Henry. Greg shook his head and went to find Catherine. He soon found her in one of the layout rooms and he did a little mock catwalk for her and she grinned.

"Alright slick, so what's with the suit?"

"Today was my first jury trial." Catherine looked at her watch.

"Today ended, an hour and half ago." Greg shrugged.

"Well maybe I don't want the day to end." Catherine tossed him some evidence stickers.

"Well maybe you can help end my day a little faster and isolate some shoe patterns." Greg pulled out a pair of gloves and grabbed the victim's pants.

"So, how did you do?"

"So good the prosecutor took me to dinner," said Greg with a grin and Catherine raised her eyebrows.

"Female?"

"Ah, she was icing. I'm just happy to see a case from the crime scene to the court room. We freaking buried the guy it was bad ass, I dropped the hammer and he was squirming in his chair." Greg found five different patterns.

"I got three here on the tee shirt. This one open toed heel got around." Greg noticed a work boot pattern and pointed it out to Catherine and she gave him a look.

"What do you know about work boots? I'm willing to bet you haven't worked a day of hard labor in your life."

"I wore Doc Martins in high school, it was the style."

"Yeah for skin heads."

"They kind of ruined it for everyone," said Greg with a pout. Catherine looked over what she had collected and frowned.

"You know one victim was Hispanic, the other Jewish…maybe this was a hate crime." Greg looked at the post mortem photo of the first victim, the poor guy looked liked someone took a hammer to his face.

"Looks like hate to me."

"I don't get people anymore, just take the money and run, beating them to death or within an inch of their life is meaningless," said Catherine.

"Well isn't most of what we deal with daily meaningless?" asked Greg.

"Well at least they have us on their side." Greg nodded and continued helping Catherine piece the shoe patterns.


	3. Fanny smacked

Fanny smacked

Greg was paged by Grissom around one am and he went down the hall to find him. He walked passed one of the swing shift lab techs who offered him a high five.

"Way to go."

"Thank you," said Greg continuing his walk down the hall until he found Grissom. Grissom looked him over and gave him a blank look.

"Greg, lose the monkey suit. You have a scene: liquor store robbery, here is the address," He handed Greg the slip with all the information.

"Related to the earlier 415?" asked Greg.

"Could be, Sofia has one of their sweaters. I need you to bag it, bring it back here along with anything else you find." Greg nodded.

"Alright, so who's my Wing Man?" Grissom rolled his eyes.

"You're a big boy Greg; you don't need a Wing Man for this." Grissom walked off and Greg tried to hide his grin.

"Primary, nice." Greg walked into the locker room and changed out of his suit and hung it up. He would have to change back into it when he left for the night, he did make a promise after all. He zipped up his vest, grabbed a camera and he got a set a keys for one of the Denali's.

"Heading out?" asked Sara when he ran into her in the hallway dragging a dummy.

"I get to be the primary," said Greg, Sara rolled her eyes.

"Well don't let it get to your head."

"But it's my first time; it's like losing my virginity all over again," joked Greg and Sara laughed.

"Hopefully without all the awkwardness afterward. Well I have a dummy to kick. Have fun." She started dragging the dummy towards the shop and Greg headed to the garage, took a Denali and headed out.

_I just may have to go out and buy a lottery ticket; this day couldn't get any better._

He was listening to something random on the satellite radio and humming along with it. He drove past an alley when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and backed up and was horrified by what he saw. It was a group of people beating a guy who was curled up in fetal position. Greg rolled down the passenger window so he could get a better look and try to figure out what was going on. Yeah, it was a mob, beating someone and he couldn't believe he was witnessing it.

_What the hell are you doing, get some help for the poor bastard!_

He fumbled for his radio and called control.

"Control, Control this is CSI Sanders I need some help." The radio buzzed back.

"Control. Roll with the information."

_Stay calm _

"Ok I have an assault in progress one alley south of Casino Central Drive, cross street Shane." He clicked off and waited for a response.

"How many suspects?"

_A fucking mob I don't know just get here!_

"Multiple, could be the guys who have been doing this all night."

_That should drill the point home to speed this up._

"Closest unit has a five minute ETA. Rolling code three are they armed?" Greg started to stammer.

_This guy may not have another two minutes._

"I don't know! I don't know. Ma'am please listen, you have to get here quicker than this." He could hear the guy screaming for help.

"Rolling two units ASAP, wait for back up." She clicked off and Greg sat there stunned.

"HELP ME!" The poor guy didn't have time.

_Just break up the mob and back up will be here soon._ Greg threw the Denali into reserve and put it into drive and started down the alley flashing the red and blue lights and sirens and honking the horn.

_God don't let him die._

"Move!" he screamed at the mob. Some of them started to break up when they realized it was a cop car and ran away. "Go on get out of here." One guy stayed there kicking the man.

_What the fuck is your problem get out of here and leave the guy alone!" _ Greg honked his horn again at the lone beater. He stopped kicking and turned his head and looked Greg in the eyes. His eyes were this pale blue creepy color that sent shivers down Greg's spine.

_What the fuck!_

The kid started to run away, but he picked up a rock that was brick sized and went back to the guy on the ground.

_Holy shit he's going to kill this guy right in front of me._ At the least second the guy stopped and looked at Greg again and started running towards the Denali with the rock held up high.

_Oh my god he's going to throw that at me._ He knew the CSI vehicles didn't have the same type of protective glass that police cruisers had and that rock would hit him dead on.

_OHMYGODWHATTHEFUCKIS HEDOING!!! STOP HIM!_ Greg's foot had been on the brake and within nano seconds it found the gas petal and hit the guy. His head hit the windshield and he made a sound like a melon falling and going splat. Greg was out of breath and he hit the brake and was shaking.

_Oh my god…I hit someone…holy shit…oh my god…where the hell is back up?_ The sound of the back window shattering snapped Greg out of it, he turned around and saw it had been broken out, but didn't see anyone. It was that split second to turn around and the next thing he felt was broken glass from his window hitting his head and he flinched. He felt someone or someone's grab the back of his vest and dragged him out of the SUV. He tried to grab for something to stay in the vehicle, but it was no use they had him out and he turned around to see that the entire mob was coming back.

Three guys were on him before he knew what to do. Two seemed to be holding him, while the other punched him stomach. He felt someone kicking him in the back with a pointed shoe and he almost broke free when the two guys pushed up to a chain link fence and one guy started punching him in the back and in the kidneys. Greg tried to hold on to the fence when they grabbed his vest again and threw him to the ground, hitting his head.

_Just get back to Denali and your radio_. He started to crawl, but it wasn't helping. A kick to the ribs, a kick to the groin, a kick in his face, one in his chest, another couple of rib and groin kicks, another couple to his face. He wanted to throw up he hurt so much and he was so tired. He tried to look at who was doing this, but it was all a valley of blows and hooded faces. He heard them calling out insults and it sounded like someone called him a pig.

_Ok just play dead just lay down and maybe that will stop this._ Greg stopped moving and drew in a shuddering breath. He felt them stop for a second, but than one of the guys kicked him over and made Greg face him. The valley of blows started again, he still couldn't see faces, the alley light and the blood in his eyes made it hard to see anything. They were calling out words of encouragement to each other with each blow that hit him.

_Oh god stop it…_Greg felt himself slipping in and out. The mob stopped and started laughing and the one that Greg thought had kicked him over stood over him and continued punching his face. Greg tried to roll up into fetal position to stop the blows and the guy laughed at him. He made it point to look Greg in the eyes before spitting on his vest.

"Fool." He snapped and started to walk away, he walked over Greg and Greg noticed he was wearing shorts and Greg reached out and scratched him.

_Got your DNA fucker._ He started to cough up blood and he heard metal on metal, he looked up and saw a red car hitting the SUV.

_Transfer too_. He couldn't see the plates though, god he hurt all over. He felt his eyes start to roll up in his head.

_Jen…oh god, I was suppose to meet her…baby oh god…_he felt the darkness consume him.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sofia pulled up with the two units that had been called to the alley way. She ran down the alleyway and saw all three men lying there.

"We just got here and we radioed for EMT's," said the uniformed.

"How do they look so far?" asked Sofia. She walked passed the SVU and noticed the broken windows.

_So that's how they got him out_

"Bad and they're all unconscious." Sofia nodded and looked. One boy in a black hooded sweatshirt was in front of the SUV. She noticed an older white man still curled up in fetal position and than she saw Greg and almost didn't recognize him, it was his vest that helped her make the id. The medics came down the alley and started on the three men. Sofia made sure Greg was ok before she started working the scene. A crowd was already starting to form.

"I want to see my son," called out a voice from the mob. Sofia turned her head and two uniforms were holding a woman back. Sofia pulled a uniform aside and hissed at him.

"How does she know her son is here?" The uniformed flinched.

"Officer Walden made the ids and started calling."

"Here's some advice, you don't call family or friends until the scene is clear. Who did Walden call for Sanders?"

"The lab, one of them is coming down now." Sofia thanked god for small favors that Greg's girlfriend wouldn't have to see him like this just yet.

"The CSI is stabilized, he's going to be ok," said a medic.

"We can't move any of them until the CSI's get here," snapped one medic working on the boy near the SVU.

"They're in route," said Sofia and she went to talk to the woman at the tape.

"Please his name is Demetrius I just want to see him," she pleaded.

"I can't let you right now."

"Oh god he's not dead."

"He's been badly injured." Sofia saw Sara running through the crowd with her kit in hand.

"Hey," said Sofia and she lead her to the three men. Sara frowned when she saw Greg.

"Why isn't there a medic on Greg?" she snapped her tone accusing. Sofia wanted to snap back at her and than she remember that Sara had trained Greg in the field and she was very close to him and she was naturally upset that the CSI she trained was injured.

"He's been stabilized, Sara he's going to be ok." Sofia went to question the homeless who took to living in the alley to see if they saw anything and left Sara to Greg.

_God let him be ok_

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Sara had been talking to Grissom when the call came in about Greg and mob and Grissom almost refused to send her.

"Sara…"

"I trained him Gil that makes him partially my responsibility and I'm not going to leave him alone somewhere. Would you leave me alone somewhere if this happened to me…even if we weren't together would you leave me alone?" she asked quietly. Gil Grissom suddenly felt all fifty some years of his life hit him all at once, he had trained Greg too and saw that Greg, despite his annoying chatter and music had what it took.

_I sent him out…I sent him out._

"No, I wouldn't leave you alone. Nick and Warrick should be right behind you. Sara, follow him and the others to the hospital please. Call me when you find out where Greg is going. I'm going to get Jenna…she should know." Sara nodded and left.

She took in the batter form in front of her and she could hardly believe that less than an hour ago they had been joking about how being primary shouldn't go to his head.

_Oh my god_. He looked horrible; his face was covered in dried blood and dirt. It was also covered in bruises and cuts. His nose was broken and both of his eyes were swollen shut. Sara got down next to him and started to stroke his head.

"Sara?" he muttered and she was torn between laughing and crying with relief.

"I didn't think you could see me."

"I can't….but I recognize that Sidle scent." She just shook her head.

"I'm going to take that has a complement." She bit her lip and looked around to study the scene. He started talking again.

"I scratched one of them, and you should check my vest…I think the same guy spit on me." Sara wanted to cry for her friend and former student and she was also furious for what they put him through and she knew that if this had happened years ago she would be hunting these assholes down with a gun. "One of their cars crashed into the Denali and I grantee there's transfer." She started stroking his hair some more and he drew in a shuddering breath. "You should process the scene now, met me later."

"I came here for you Greg." He seemed to be slipping out again, but he forced himself to stay awake.

"Is someone…is someone getting Jen…I was suppose to met her after shift…we were gonna celebrate." _God had that been today?_ It felt like another lifetime ago.

"Grissom and Catherine went to get her; she's going to meet you at the hospital." Greg nodded and dozed off again. Sara grabbed her kit and started taking pictures so the men could be moved.

_I hope Jenna handles this better than I am._


	4. How did we get here

How did we get here?

Jenna felt Gabriel walking across her back, she tried to ignore him and go back to sleep. Gabriel started doing the kneading thing and he settled on her back and started to chew on her braided hair that was still sort of wet from her shower.

"Baby stop that," she moaned and rolled over. The cat jumped off of her and started meowing at her. Jenna groaned and looked over at the alarm clock on her bedside table.

"It's two in the morning; I don't want to play with you right now." Gabriel didn't listen and started head butting her hand. She sighed and started petting the cat on his head; she hadn't been sleeping well anyway.

She was still trying to get used to all the noise she heard at night. The house in Henderson had been near the suburbs and the most annoying thing that that she sometimes heard at night was a kid two blocks over blasting his car stereo, now she was trying to get used to someone constantly blasting their car stereo. She sighed and got up and decided to make herself a cup of tea and maybe even unpack a box or two in the living room. Gabriel started winding himself between her legs and she picked him up and put him over her shoulder.

"You're lucky I'm not daddy, he would have thrown something at you." She filled the kettle and set it on the stove to boil. She pulled out her mug and placed a tea bag in the mug and than she put Gabriel on the couch and turned on the CD player and started playing some Shakira quietly and started singing with it.

_This is the day and the time_

_I wanna believe that we may still have a chance_

_We took a leap in the dark  
And I can see now  
How shadows have turned to light_

Jenna started unpacking a box a DVD's from Greg's old apartment and placing them on a shelf next to the TV. She grinned to herself realizing that they had some of the exact same movies like Snatch and several Kevin Smith movies.

_Well's there's always EBay._ She went to reach for another box when someone knocked on the door.

_Who the hell is that a two in the morning?_ She hadn't been making a lot of noise so she didn't think it was a neighbor. She got up and looked through the peephole; she saw Catherine and Grissom waiting in the hallway.

_What they hell are they doing here? _Jenna unchained, unlocked and opened the door just has Grissom was about to knock again. Catherine looked really nervous and was looking past Jenna and into the apartment.

"Jenna can we come in?" asked Grissom. She nodded and let them in and shut the door. She knew this wasn't a social call and she felt something very unpleasant settle in the pit of her stomach.

"We're sorry to wake up like this," said Catherine.

"No, I was already awake because of Gabriel."

"Gabriel?" asked Grissom giving her a look; she nodded her head over where Gabriel was licking his paws.

"My cat…um this may sound a little rude, but why are you guys here at two in the morning. Is something wrong…oh god did you find another dead body at the bakery?" Catherine sighed; she almost wished she could tell Jenna that was it, Grissom cleared his throat.

"Actually I think it would be best if you had a seat." Jenna heard the tone in his voice and she felt the unpleasant thing in her stomach take a firm hold. Grissom sat down across from her and sighed. "There's been an incident involving Greg…"

"What…what kind of _incident_…did the lab blow up again?" Grissom looked at Catherine for help, he was never any good with people and he had a feeling he was really screwing up this time.

"No…he went to go collect from a scene and…." Jenna barely heard what Catherine was saying over the rushing noise in her ears. "He was pulled from the vehicle after hitting the boy…" Jenna suddenly felt like the whole world had gone cold. "He was badly beaten…" Jenna started to shake a little and she heard the kettle in the kitchen go off.

"I…oh god…" she bit down hard on her tongue so she wouldn't cry. Grissom got up and turned the kettle off for her. Catherine sat down next to her and took one of her hands.

"He's going to be alright, but…"

"I want to see Greg, right now!" snapped Jenna.

"Of course…we'll take you right now. Do you want to change?" asked Grissom looking over Jenna in her Hello Kitty pants and oversized night shirt. She nodded and went into the bedroom to change. She just grabbed a pair of jeans and one of her sweaters. She barely remembered to grab her cell phone, purse and house keys. Grissom had turned off the radio for her and had to remind her to lock the apartment behind her.

She soon found herself sitting in the back of Grissom's car and twisting the necklace Greg had given her years ago.

She had long ago stopped being what many considered a good Catholic, she still attended holiday mass and did lent, but for the most part Jenna had given up on God after she lost her baby. She hadn't asked God for anything in years; even when she thought she was going to die with a bullet in her brain she hadn't asked for divine intervention to save her, she simply hoped that her family and friends would be ok after she died. As she sat in the back of the car she started to pray in her head.

_God please let him be ok…god please let him be ok…god please let him be ok. _She fiddled with the necklace, feeling each link like it was a rosary bead and prayed for Greg.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg had once heard that when you were deprived of one of your sense the other four that still had working took over and they increased. When he regained conscious the first time, he tried to open his eyes and found the effort painful and that he couldn't see anything anyway and soon he drifted off again. The next time he woke up, he could smell lemons and he felt someone touch his head.

_Lemons…where have I smelled lemons before…Sara_. She had once told him the best way to get rid of the death like smell that clung to you after dumpster diving was by taking a very hot shower, cutting up some fresh lemons and placing them in the shower with you. It seemed to do the trick at least half the time and he could defiantly recall the scent of lemons around Sara.

"Sara?" he asked tentatively.

"I didn't think you could see me." He heard her voice and knew he was right.

"I can't….but I recognize that Sidle scent."

"I'm going to take that has a complement." He was so tired, but he wanted her to know that they could catch these guys.

"I scratched one of them, and you should check my vest…I think the same guy spit on me. One of their cars crashed into the Denali and I guarantee there's transfer." He really wanted her to start working the scene, get these guys and get them off the streets.

"You should process the scene now, met me later."

"I came here for you Greg." He was starting to slip out again, but he forced himself to stay awake, he had to ask her for a favor.

"Is someone…is someone getting Jen…I was suppose to met her after shift…we were gonna celebrate."

"Grissom and Catherine went to get her; she's going to meet you at the hospital." Greg nodded and allowed the blackness to take him over again.

"Ok one, two three up," said a male voice and Greg felt someone moving him from the pavement to something slightly softer and than being lifted up again and he felt straps being put across his chest and he winced.

"We could have some broken ribs," said another male voice. Greg sniffed and the one who had spoken smelled like brunt coffee, the next voice Greg labeled as cough drop because he smelled exactly like a Halls cough drop.

"Let's get the show on the road," said cough drop and the very bumpy ride to the hospital started.

"This could sting a little," said brunt coffee and Greg felt something cold and wet touch his face. The guy was wiping off the grim and blood that covered his face.

"You sure you're allowed to do that…the CSI's will tear into you if you fuck up evidence…trust me, David accidentally threw out a bloody shirt and this one guy…Griss something tore him at least six new ones," said Cough Drop

"They got pictures, I don't see what it can hurt if I clean the poor guy up. Hand me an ice pack and let's see if we can get the swelling down on his eyes. This is also going to sting," said Brunt Coffee. Greg felt an ice pack on the left side of his face and he had never been more grateful for anything.

"Thanks," he managed to mutter.

"Hey, it's my job," said Brunt Coffee. Greg nodded again and he dozed off again.

"Ok, all his clothes need bagged and they get handed to the lady outside, her name is Sidle. Be quick, but careful, that lady looks like she's ready to tear heads off one handed if anything else happens to him, thankful she already got pictures and her scrapings…she was giving me the chills," said a female voice, her voice was firm but kind.

"Um…ok," said a very tentative voice, she sounded young and slightly fearful of screwing this up.

_God did I sound like that when I was starting off._

He felt very soft, but slightly shaking hands taking off his vest, he heard a deeper male voice speak up.

"Here let me help you," He felt larger, stronger hands slide under his back and prop him up slightly and the younger girl quickly removed the vest and he heard the sounds of an evidence bag being opened and his vest being put in.

"Can I see the scissors?" asked the girl. He felt someone cutting his shirt off, he felt really cold and than he was laid back down on the table. He started to shiver slightly and a blanket was placed over him.

"Can you hear me Mr. Sanders?" asked the older male voice.

"Yeah," he muttered

"Good, my name is Tony; the nice young girl who's taking off your clothes is Alisha and the lady who put the blanket on you is Mimi."

He felt Alisha start to take off his shoes and jeans and he couldn't help but feel horribly embarrassed and wondered how many victims he had dealt with in the past had gone through this. He started to shiver some more and he felt Tony pick him up again gently and he felt someone who wasn't Alisha put him in a hospital gown. He smelled something like clean sheets and rubber coming from the person who was putting on the gown. He heard Alisha out in the hall handing Sara the bags and she came back in.

"She said that his girlfriend was waiting for him in waiting room."

_Jenna…_

"All the private rooms are full right now, we'll have to put him in one of the temporary ER rooms," said Mimi. Greg felt her slide a needle into his arm and he felt the numbing sensation of pain killers. He felt Mimi slide a pillow under his head and he felt another blanket being put on him. The felt his bed being moved down the hall and he heard Tony humming something that sounded like Ok Go. He felt the bed stop and he could smell Mimi come back in and she started attaching him to machines that would monitor him.

"Alright sweetheart, I'm done with you for now. I'm sure your girlfriend is probably worried her self sick by now. I'll go get her for you." Greg muttered something he was sure that sounded like a yes and he heard Mimi leave.

_Jenna…_He felt himself go under again, this time from the morphine pumping into his arm.

………………………………………………………………….

Jenna followed Grissom and Catherine to a waiting room without really seeing were she was going. She was a little scared to find that her body could function without her mind being there.

"I'm going to find Brass and Sara and talk to them about what they found out, Catherine could you?" asked Grissom, Catherine nodded and sat down next to Jenna who was still very much out of it. She put a hand on Jenna's shoulder and she took her other hand.

"I'm sure he's going to be fine."

"We were going to have breakfast together after he got off shift. He was so damn giddy after he got out of court, we were going to celebrate." Jenna twisted her necklace again. "I just…it doesn't make sense."

"I know." Catherine started stroking Jenna's braid and she felt the younger woman sigh and rub her eyes.

"Jenna?" she looked up and saw Mimi, one of the nurses who had taken care of her mother looking at her. "Oh honey what are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Greg Sanders." Mimi sighed.

"I was just coming to get his girlfriend." Jenna stood up.

"You found her." Mimi came over and gave her a hug.

"Oh sweetie I'm sorry. Come on honey, he's waiting for you."

"I'll see you later," said Catherine and Jenna nodded and let Mimi lead her down the hall.

_I was going to make blintzes, I had changed the sheets on the bed and a few hours ago I was enjoying the roses he got me…how did we get here? _


	5. Bed side chats and thoughts

Bedside chats and thoughts

"How long have you two been seeing each other?" asked Mimi.

"A year…we just started living together," said Jenna. Mimi sighed.

"I'll make sure he gets checked on first when the nurses do rounds and I'll put him at the top of list for a private room, just for you."

"Thanks Mimi." Mimi took her down a hallway and they stopped in front of his room.

"Here we are, he's been given some painkillers so he might be a little groggy," said Mimi. "I'll leave you two alone." Mimi walked away leaving Jenna alone.

She looked at the figure on the bed that they said was Greg. His face was covered in cuts and bruises; his head wrapped in bandages, his eyes were swollen shut and his right wrist was heavily wrapped. Jenna felt herself start to tear-up, she wiped her eyes angry with herself.

_Get it together Greg needs you…this is no time to becoming a sobbing mess. _She stepped quietly into the room and over to Greg's bedside, she found a small hardback chair and settled into it. Jenna took a deep breath and took his left hand and started stroking the un-wrapped part of his head. Greg stirred and turned to face her, but couldn't open his eyes.

"Jenna," he muttered. She gripped his hand a little tighter.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Your scent, you smell like sugar and vanilla." She had to chuckle at that.

_He always remembered the littlest thing_

"Considering I work with it all day, I think I would smell like that."

"I also know by your touch, you're so soft," his voice trailed off, and he drifted off to sleep. Jenna shook her head and tried to get comfortable in the chair.

"Excuse me Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Sanders," said a nurse with long red hair. It was the second 'Mrs. Sanders' that got Jenna's attention. She felt her face go red and stammered.

"Oh, I'm not…we're just…I'm his girlfriend." The nurse shook her head and laughed.

"Sorry sugar, we just call everyone Mrs. Last-name-here and sort if out from their. Can you fill this paperwork out for Mr. Sanders?" She handed Jenna a clipboard, pen and a mountain of paperwork.

"I'll try my best." The nurse headed out and Jenna just shook her head and clicked the pen.

"Got rather flustered with the idea of being my missus," Greg said softly.

"You heard that?"

"I hate morphine, makes me groggy. I can still sort of hear what's going on."

"That's a plus…so is it Greg or Gregory?"

"Gregory…don't laugh at my name."

"I'm sorry. I just got this mental image of you in grade school being called Gregory."

"Nice to know I can still make you laugh." Jenna gave him a tight smile and kept filling out the forms, waking him once in a while for answers.

"All done, you can rest now," said Jenna setting the clipboard aside. She took his hand again and started playing with his hair again. He was drifting out again when his hand tighten on hers.

"I love you," Greg muttered.

"I love you too," said Jenna. Greg shook his head.

"Jen, I thought about you while I was in that alley. Jenna felt her heart catch, and she had trouble finding words.

"Greg, its ok you don't have too."

"No…no it's not, I was lying their and I thought I wouldn't see you again. And you wouldn't…..you never know that I…" he drifted off once again and his breathing seem to tell that her that he was finally sleeping. Jenna wiped her eyes; almost gratefully that Greg couldn't see her. She leaned over and kissed him on his bandaged forehead."

"When I was little my mom used to sing to me and when she was in the hospital I sung to her. It's your turn now." She thought for a moment and started singing softly to him, it seemed fitting considering he had rescued someone.

_I've been jumping from the tops of buildings  
For the thrill of the fall ignoring sound advice  
And any thought of consequence  
My bones have shattered  
My pride is shattered  
And in the midst of this self inflicted pain  
I can see my beautiful rescue_

I'm falling more in love with every single word I withhold  
I'm falling more in love with every single word you say  
I'm falling head over heals for you

I've been dancing on the tops of buildings  
At the top of my lungs I'm singing you a song  
"Don't you leave me alone"  
My bones were shattered  
My pride lay shattered  
Well I'll trample my pride  
Until the whole world dance with me

I'm falling more in love with every single word I'll withhold  
I'm falling more in love with every single word you say  
I'm falling head over heals for you

Again well I'm crying out,  
"wash my hands, these bloody hands, oh open my mouth and I'll sing"

I'm falling more in love with every single word I'll withhold  
I'm falling more in love with every single word you say  
I'm falling head over heals for you

I've been dancing on the tops of buildings,  
With you.

……………………………………………………..

Greg hated morphine, they had him on it after he had been in the lab explosion and it made it impossible to stay awake and he felt groggy. He was starting to wake up again when he heard someone come into his room and walk quietly over to his bed and move a chair close to his bedside. He took a breath and he could smell the sweet scent of sugar and vanilla wash over him, oh god it was her. He felt her wrap her hand in his one that wasn't bandaged and he felt her stroke the un-bandaged part of his head. God it felt so good after all the hell he's gone through tonight. He wanted to drift off to sleep breathing her in, but he wanted her to know that he knew she was here with him.

"Jenna." He felt her grip on his tighten.

"How did you know it was me?"

_Because you're all I've thought about tonight._

"Your scent, you smell like sugar and vanilla." He heard her give the smallest of laughs and he almost forgot he was here.

"Considering I work with it all day, I think I would smell like that."

_You also knew when she touched you, she's so soft_

"I also know by your touch, you're so soft," Greg felt himself get sleepy again and he dozed off again. He felt Jenna settle in next to his bedside.

"Excuse me Mrs. Sanders, Mrs. Sanders."

_Oh shit my mom's here._ Greg still hadn't told her he was a CSI and he couldn't even begin to think what her reaction would be when she saw him. Than he heard Jenna stammer out an answer.

"Oh, I'm not…we're just…I'm his girlfriend."

_She's kind of cute when she gets all flustered, who would have thought that someone thinking we were married would get her all flustered._

_Maybe she's starting to have second thoughts about this relationship, lab explosions, getting the shit beat out of you while on a standard pick up…would you blame her if she jumped ship…knock it off right now! _He heard her sit back down and click a pen.

"Got rather flustered with the idea of being my missus," he said softly.

"You heard that?"

"I hate morphine, makes me groggy. I can still sort of hear what's going on."

"That's a plus…so is it Greg or Gregory?"

_She's joking with you…that's a good sign._

"Gregory…don't laugh at my name."

"I'm sorry. I just got this mental image of you in grade school being called Gregory."

"Nice to know I can still make you laugh." He heard her sigh and she let him drift in and out while she filled out his paperwork.

"All done, you can rest now." Greg felt her hand return to his and he felt her start to play with his hair again.

_God she shouldn't be here…you need to tell her what she means to you._ He tighten his grip on her hand.

"I love you," he muttered

"I love you too," said Jenna. Greg shook his head.

_Damn it Greg tell her what she really means to you._

"Jen, I thought about you while I was in that alley." He heard her suck in a breath and start to stammer again.

"Greg, its ok you don't have too."

"No…no it's not," He felt himself getting sleepy again and he was trying to fight it. "I was lying their and I thought I wouldn't see you again. And you wouldn't…..you never know that I…" He couldn't get it out and he gave in to the morphine at last. He felt her grip tighten on his and a kiss being placed on his forehead and he thought he heard her singing to him.

_I'm falling more in love with every single word I'll withhold  
I'm falling more in love with every single word you say  
I'm falling head over heals for you_

I've been dancing on the tops of buildings,  
With you.

……………………………………………………..

Grissom found Sara sitting outside one of the OR's holding several evidence bags and looking murderous.

"How is he?" asked Grissom, Sara stood up and looked at Grissom.

"Well physical Greg is going to be ok, lots of bruises on the face and torso, possible some broken ribs, nose is broken, his eyes are swollen shut, right hand has some fractures. The other victim is Stanley Tanner, a tourist from Tennessee. He has a crushed wind pipe, broken ankle, broken left arm and a very serious head injury. The boy Greg hit is a college student, Demetrius James and he's still unknown in surgery."

"And how are you holding up?" asked Grissom. Sara felt herself tear up, she looked around and took his hand and pulled him into a side hallway.

"God Gil, they spit on him. It wasn't bad enough they pulled him out of the SUV and beat the hell out of him, they had to spit on him too…add insult to injury! These guys are animals and quite frankly when we find these guys I want ten minutes alone with each of them so I can beat the shit out them," snapped Sara. Grissom understood how she felt, he too had trained Greg to work, but Sara had always been the closest to him and always more patient with Greg than he had ever been. Grissom pulled Sara into a hug.

"It's going to be alright, Greg's a strong person…deep down. He'll pull through this." Sara nodded.

"I just feel like someone beat up my kid brother and I need to put someone in their place." Grissom had to smile at that.

"Is he allowed visitors?" asked Grissom.

"Yeah, when I left him the nurses were going to get Jenna for him."

"She's a good person; Greg's really going to need that now. Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah I just needed to vent. I'll see you later on when they give me James's stuff. Greg is in room 607 downstairs and down the hall from the nurse's station." Grissom nodded and for once he didn't care who saw them and he gave her a hug and went to go see Greg.

……………………………………………………..

Grissom paused outside of the room and looked in on Greg and Jenna. Greg appeared to be sleeping and Jenna was sitting on the right side of Greg's bed holding the left side of his bed. She was focused only on Greg and was looking at him with a mixture of love and hurt in her eyes. He wondered if Sara would break their cover if this happened to him.

"Jenna," said Grissom, it caused her to jump slightly. She looked exhausted and appeared to have aged ten years since the last time he saw her an hour ago.

"Hey," she sighed and looked at Greg and than back at him. "Do you want me to leave…I mean do you have question Greg about what happened?"

"I'll ask him later, but I would still like to talk to Greg and you don't have to leave."

"Thank you." Grissom nodded and walked the rest of the way into the room.

"Greg?" Greg stirred and opened his left eye a little.

"Grissom."

"Just another day at the office huh?" Jenna honestly thought this night couldn't get any weirder and now Grissom was cracking small jokes.

_All that's missing is the rim shot and this would be the most comical thing ever. _

"At least I can see now," Greg's speech was stiff from his jaw being messed up and he had to take a second to organize his thoughts. "The guy they beat up, how is he?"

"He's going to be fine," said Grissom. Jenna smiled a little.

_Way to go baby._

"What about the other guy…the guy I hit?" Jenna just blinked.

_I hope he's suffering in the same kind of hell you are…what the fuck was he doing out there._

"His name is Demetrius James, he's in surgery."

"Is like a gang banger or something?" asked Greg and Grissom sighed.

"Actually he's a student at the university." Greg just shook his head and Jenna was just as puzzled as Greg.

_What the hell is a college kid doing beating people up in alley?_

"Has someone called your parents?" Greg shook his head no and Jenna felt like the world's biggest ass.

_Shit…I thought someone like Catherine or Grissom did that. They got me, I'm not related…god Jenna you moron get your act together!_

"You should call them, let them know what's happened," said Grissom. Greg let out a very muffled sound and shook his head no. Jenna was confused by this, she knew she would want her mom first thing if she was in his place.

"What's the matter?" asked Grissom.

"They still think I'm in the lab." Jenna felt her jaw drop and Greg looked away from her. Greg had been in the field for a year when they started dating and his parents didn't know.

_Oh my god…why didn't you tell them, hell why haven't you told me that they don't know._ Jenna was suppose to go with Greg to his parents for Thanksgiving next month and she couldn't imagine what lies he expected her to come up so his parents would think that he was in the lab.

"Why do they think that?" asked Grissom giving voice to Jenna's thoughts.

"When I was in high school, I wasn't allowed to play any sports. No football, no basketball, definitely no hockey.

"I never would have guessed," said Grissom trying to joke again.

"Well it wasn't by choice," said Greg bitterly. "My mom wanted four kids…ended up with only one. She made sure I stayed closed, if I got a nose bled, she take me to the ER."

_God we always used to joke about how overprotective our moms were, but I think Greg's mom may have overdone it._

"Well, now would be the time to come clean." Greg fought back tears and gripped Jenna's hand hard.

"My mom's gonna freak."

"You tell her that you risked your life to save someone else's and I'm sure she'll be very proud of you." Greg started to cry to himself and Jenna felt a piece of heart break for Greg.

"If you want, I'll call them for you. I'll also make sure they have plane tickets and a place to crash if you want them to come out," said Jenna carefully wiping away one of Greg's tears.

"You do that?" asked Greg.

"Only if you want me too." Greg thought for a moment.

"I wanna see my mom."

"Alright, I'll start making calls." Jenna got up to leave when Greg's left hand caught her sleeve.

"Don't leave yet…just wait till morning to call them," pleaded Greg. Jenna nodded and looked at Grissom.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Of course." Grissom headed out to the hall to wait for her and Jenna turned back to Greg.

"I just need to ask him if he knows where your wallet is. The nurses need a copy of your insurance card." Greg nodded and let go of her sleeve. Jenna walked out of the room and headed over to Grissom and she felt the need to explain why she hadn't called his parents.

"I didn't know that Greg's parents hadn't been called…I just thought…you called family first." Grissom looked down at her.

"You're the closest thing to family that Greg has in town, that's why we got you first." Jenna found herself at a lost for words and she slumped against a wall.

"I don't know what to do?"

"Just be there for Greg." Jenna nodded and she stood up.

"The nurses wanted a copy of his insurance card, but Greg can't remember where his wallet is. They didn't rob him too."

"No his wallet is in evidence, but I think we can let you have it. Anything else you'll need should be in his locker at the lab. Greg can give you his locker number. When you come in, go see Judy at the front desk and I'll have someone sign the wallet out to you and take you to Greg's locker."

"Thanks. I should get back to him now."

"Jenna, we have everyone working to find these guys." She looked at Grissom and her eyes were dark and tried.

"It won't change what's happened."

"I know." Jenna walked back into Greg's room and resumed her post at his bedside. Grissom looked down the hall and saw Sara walking towards him with the evidence bags and something in a clear container.

_It may not change anything, but it may help someone else not be here tonight_, thought Grissom and he went to ask Sara for her report on Demetrius James

Notes- The song Jenna was singing to Greg is called My Beautiful Rescue by This Providence. It seemed fitting at the time.

Love it, hate it, review it please…let me know if I should be paying attention during my Light Design class and not writing fanfiction. ^-^


	6. Understanding and loss

Understand and loss

Greg was starting to feel a little less like shit around six am and was sitting up in bed and off his morphine for the time being. Jenna stepped out to get them some coffee and bug one of the nurses for a private room. He felt his legs start to go numb and he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his back wasn't too fond of the movement, but he needed out of that bed. He could never sit still and he hated lying still even more, his mother and grandmother had always complained about what a horrible patient he had been when he was younger. Jenna came back carrying two paper cups of coffee and a small baggie of creamer and sugar. She saw him up in bed and frowned.

"Are you allowed out of bed?"

"Technically I'm not out of bed." She sat the coffee down and looked at him and gave a small grin.

"Your gown doesn't close in the back. Thank god you're wearing clean underwear."

"My mom always told me too." She walked into the mini bathroom and grabbed a bathrobe.

"Here, no one should have to see your blue striped boxers." He stood up and went to put it on, but had a little trouble due to his right wrist.

"Damn it," muttered Greg, Jenna took it from him and helped him put it on.

"Better?" she asked, he nodded, sat back down and took a sip of the coffee and frowned.

"God this taste terrible…did they run it through an oil filter?" asked Greg.

"Sorry, I asked for Blue Hawaiian and the guy at the counter looked at me like I was smoking crack." She waved the baggie of sugar and creamer. "Let's see how many of these we have to go through to make it drinkable." She sat down next to him and started with three packs of sugar and two creamers; she took a sip and frowned.

"Nope, now it tastes like sweet motor oil. What do you keep looking at?" She spotted Greg looking in the window of the room next to them; she couldn't make out much due to a sheet hiding the patient. Greg took six sugars and a thing of Hazelnut creamer and dumped them in the coffee.

"I was just looking," he said. He couldn't see much either because of the sheet, but he had heard a passing nurse say something about the boy in the next room had been hit by car and it didn't look good.

_God don't let it be him._ Greg took a sip of the coffee and shrugged.

"Hazelnut motor oil, I'm sure it's really good for nice cars." Jenna simply picked up the cups and tossed them in trash.

"Oh well I'm out five bucks. I'll bring you some of the good stuff when I swing by the apartment. Is there anything else you want while I'm out?" asked Jenna. Greg shrugged.

"My I-Pod…the P.A system is getting a little tiresome. I left it in my locker at work."

"Ok, I'll add it to the list." She put her head on his shoulder. "I'm going to head out once they get you settled into the private room, is that ok?"

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while, saying it had been a long night was an understatement. Both of them were exhausted physical and emotionally, Jenna was still trying to figure out how to tell Greg's parents that he had been a human punching bag for a group of punks that was still running around Las Vegas and that their son had been hiding his job from them for almost two years.

"What do you want me to tell your parents?" asked Jenna.

"I don't know everything I guess. Are you mad at me for not telling them?"

"I'm not mad…I'm a little confused about why you didn't tell them. I mean you love your job. It's something you take pride in and you've hid it from them for almost two years. I mean, if your weren't in the field we wouldn't have met again. How did you tell your parents we met again if you weren't working in the field?"

"Lab rotation." Her jaw dropped, now she was getting sort of mad, and it is hard to be mad at a person who is in a hospital bed after getting the living daylights beat out of them.

She respected what Greg did and admired him for what he had to go through on a daily basis and yet, not only had he lied to his parents about what he had been doing with his life, but he had lied to them about how they got back together. If he hadn't been in the field, they wouldn't be having this conversation, because she would have been dead.

"You lied to them about us?"

_Damn it, I didn't want to lie about us, but I had too, _thought Greg, he opened his mouth to say something when an aide came in with a breakfast.

"Mr. Sanders, I hope you like mush," joked the aide. She sat down his breakfast that was mostly liquid and mush, due to his jaw still being sore. "After you're finished, you're going to be moved upstairs to recovery."

"Thanks," he told her. She sat the tray down and left the room, Greg looked at Jenna who was frowning at him.

"Look, I'm sorry I lied to them and in a way for lying to you. But, I just wanted to protect my mom you understand that right."

Jenna bit her lip, she did understand in a way. She had lied to her mom when Andy stole $10,000 from them and how she took up pole dancing for a year to get the money back, but this was different. She hated what she did and was ashamed of what she had to do to help her family. However, she wasn't in the mood to fight with him and really it was the last thing they both needed.

"Yeah I do, sort of. Now you better eat that pink pudding thing on your tray before I do. I remember that was one of the better things here, next to the Jell-O." He gave her a small grin and took a spoonful of pudding. It hurt to swallow it, but it was edible.

"There he is," they pair looked up to see an older man being wheeled into the room by a nurse. "Mr. Sanders." Greg pushed the tray aside and stood up, Jenna looked at the guy who looked a little better than Greg. His arm was wrapped in a heavy cast and so was his leg and just as tired as they were. Jenna assumed that this was Stanley Tanner, the man Greg had saved.

_See, if you hadn't have been out there this guy would be going home in a body bag._

"Hey, how are you?" asked Greg. Stanley gave them a look.

"Better than dead." Jenna had to crack a smile at that, at least he was honest. "Get me over there Lizzy so I can shake this man's hand." The nurse wheeled him over and Greg gave a look at his right hand that was fractured and Stanley looked at his arm that was broken. The two took their non damaged hands and Stanley gave it a sort of shake.

"You're a brave man, thank you." He said very seriously. Greg looked really bashful.

"You're welcome." Stanley looked over at Jenna and than back at Greg.

"This your lady, Mr. Sanders?" Jenna shook his hand.

"I would like to think so." Stanley took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"You keep a hold of him, he's a good man." She looked up at Greg.

"Been telling him that since day one." Greg looked even more bashful and she gave him a grin. Stanley smiled at the two of them and looked up the nurse.

"Home, Elizabeth." The nurse just shook her head and grinned. She started to wheel Stanley out.

"I cook some mean barbecue if you two ever get yourself down to Union City, Tennessee." Jenna was happy to see Greg was giving off one of his shy smiles.

"I'll look you up," said Greg joking.

"You do that," said Stanley and the nurse wheeled him out. Jenna looked at Greg who was still sort of grinning. She wanted to give him a huge hug and point out to him what he had really done.

_That guy is alive because of what you do, you should be proud._ Before Jenna could get anything out, they were someone sobbing from the next room. Greg walked over to the window. The sheet had been taken down and they could see a young black boy laying on a table, blood had soaked through his wrappings and all his machines were going off. The doctors and nurses were all leaving the room. The mother of the boy was holding him and crying hysterically.

"NO GOD!!!! OH MY BABY, MY BABY, MY BABY!!!!!!" Jenna felt for her, granted she had miscarried and most people didn't consider it a real baby, but it was for her. She looked over at Greg who looked horror stricken, she looked back into the room and noticed another boy standing next to the bed and he looked up and gave Greg a look of absolute hate and rage.

"Greg?" asked Jenna.

"Oh god," he muttered. He put his head down and started walking back to his bed. Jenna looked back at the boy who was still glaring at them and pieces started to fall in place.

_No, it couldn't be that kid. What sort of hospital fuck up put them in rooms right next to each other?_ She closed the blinds and shut the door. She looked back at Greg who was sitting in his bed again. She felt another piece of her heart break for him; he looked so lost and alone. She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his back and she took his non injured hand in both of her hands.

"Baby."

"I killed him." Greg started to shake and Jenna got closer to him.

"It's not your fault." It wasn't really when you got down to it, thought Jenna. It was really no different than if someone broke into her bakery and started to attack her and Ofilia and she hit the guy with a pan and he died later on. She had saved her life and her friend's life and that was the issue. Greg had hit that boy to save his life and Stanley Tanner's life.

_I would rather have you here than a person who is willing to beat a man to death in a dark Vegas alley. _Greg looked at her shocked.

"I hit that kid Jen…he's dead because of what I did. I thought he was going to run away like the others. Why didn't he run away?" He broke down crying into Jenna's sweater, she just held him and shushed him the way her mother had done years ago with her. The door opened and Jenna looked up and was half expecting the kid from the other room to be standing there, instead it was a nurse who looked confused by what she was seeing.

"Is there a problem?" Jenna glared at her; she had never lost her temper with a nurse when her mom was in for cancer treatment, even when they did the most retard things like screwing up her mother's meds or taking hours to hand out the pain meds. But, this unforgivable, their rooms should not have been anywhere near each other, she didn't care how screwed up or busy the hospital was, why not put rapist and victims in rooms side by side and see what happens. Jenna knew it wasn't her fault, but by god she had someone to scream at for everything that had happened and she was going to let someone know how she felt.

"Yeah I have a huge problem. Why in the hell did anyone think it was okay to put an officer and the boy that was injured at his scene in side by side rooms?" The nurse seemed to realize who they were and stuttered.

"Oh dear, we're so sorry. It's been a mad house and we were just putting people in the first open room…"

"I don't care; I can't believe that anyone would be so careless to do that. Do you mix drive by shooters and victims together? No, do you know why…" Greg cut her off.

"Jen let it go. Am I going to be moved now?" The nurse nodded and brought in a wheelchair. Greg eyed it with distain.

"I can walk," he snapped.

"It's just policy," said the nurse. Greg slammed himself into the wheelchair, winced a little at the pain he had just caused himself and they left the room. Thankfully, the family of Demetrius James had left and they were able to get up to the room with no issues.

"Can I get something for my back? It's starting to hurt again." asked Greg after he had been settled into the new bed. Jenna just glared at the nurse.

"Do you think you can handle that?" snapped Jenna.

"Jen let it go," snapped Greg, she bit her tongue and sat down next to him. The nurse hurried to get Greg his pain meds and Greg looked over at her.

"Yelling at the nurses doesn't change things, so just let it go."

"Well it made me feel better for about five seconds." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that was a serious fuck up on there part."

"I was going to find out anyway."

"But, you didn't need to find out like that." They stopped talking while a nurse different from the one who had brought them up started Greg on a new morphine drip. She checked Greg's vitals and left them alone. Greg reached out and took her hand.

"This kicks in fast, so will you stay with me until I pass out again."

"Yeah." She moved her chair closer to his bed and watched as his eyes started to grow heavy again.

"Will you sing to me again? It was nice, my mom used to when I was little."

"Mine too." She started to play with his hair and settled on a song, it fit what she was feeling and the mood of the everything that had happened tonight.

_So there goes my life  
Passing by with every exit sign  
It's been so long  
Sometimes I wonder how I will stay strong  
No sleep tonight  
I'll keep on driving these dark highway lines  
And as the moon fades  
One more night gone, only twenty more days  
But I will see you again  
I will see you again a long time from now_

And there goes my life  
Passing by with every departing flight  
And its been so hard  
So much time so far apart  
And she walks the night  
How many hearts will die tonight  
And will things have changed  
I guess I'll find out in seventeen days

But I will see you again  
I will see you again a long time from now

Greg was already sound asleep, he wasn't lying when he said the morphine hit him fast, but she felt the need to finish the song. __

My body aches,  
and it hurts to sing,  
and no one is moving  
And I wish that I weren't here tonight,  
but this is my life

And I will see you again  
I will see you again a long time from now  
And I will see you again  
I will see you again a long time from now

She kissed his forehead again and went to get up.

"That was pretty, who was it?" Jenna turned around and saw Nick in the doorway. Jenna shrugged.

"City and Colour. Well at least I'm not leaving him alone now." She stood up and grabbed her purse. "I have to call Greg's parents and stuff." Nick looked at her accusing.

"Why didn't you call them last night?" Jenna bit her tongue again, she wasn't about to start a fight with Greg's friends in his hospital room.

"He asked me to wait till morning. They think he's still in the lab and I have the joy of telling them otherwise. Excuse me, I have to get home and break the news that their son saved someone and got to be a human punching bag in the process." Jenna went to walk past Nick and he followed her.

"Look I'm sorry. It's just been a long night." Jenna rolled her eyes.

"No shit, really." She punched the down button on the elevator and tapped her foot.

"I'm sorry. How is he?"

"He was doing good, until thirty minutes ago. Some screw up with the staff here caused Greg's room to be next to Demetrius James and we got a front seat to him dying." Nick's jaw dropped.

"Oh man, did you complain."

"Greg told me to drop it." The elevator finally came and Jenna got on and Nick stopped it.

"Look, no matter what happens, no matter what Greg says or does the next couple of days or weeks, he still loves you and he's going to need you no matter how much he says he doesn't."

"Thanks Nick." He let go of the elevator and Jenna caught a cab and headed home.

She had already called Ofilia and made sure that everything was taken care of there.

"Hey, just worry about your boy. We have everything covered, and besides you have how many weeks of time off saved? I just wish you were taking them for something pleasant."

"I'll call you later on." Jenna hung up the cell phone and got Gabriel breakfast so he would stop begging. Jenna than started to book plane tickets and hotel rooms for Greg's parents. She made sure that the tickets would be waiting for them at the front counter; all they had to do was get on the plane. Jenna took a deep breath and called Greg's parents. She almost found herself wishing that they weren't there.

_Please don't be there…please don't be there. _ Greg's mother Kari answered the phone.

"Hello," she sounded so cheerful and Jenna almost hated herself for what she was about to tell her.

"Hi, Kari."

"Oh hello, it's good to hear from you. How are you settling in?"

"Ok…umm Kari."

"I'm glad, is my son there or is the Las Vegas Crime Lab making him work for his money."

"He's not here…"

"I swear they work him like a dog…." Jenna cut her off.

"Kari we need to talk, about Greg." The older woman sound disappointed.

"Oh honey, I'm sure whatever it is you can work it out." Jenna almost laughed, she almost wished that breaking up was the reason she was calling.

"Kari…I think you should sit down." It sounded lame, but Jenna knew when they told her about Greg if she hadn't been sitting she would have fallen over from shock.

"What's going on, where is Greg?"

"He's at the hospital right now," Jenna blurted it out and realized that she needed to do this like ripping off a Band-Aid, just tell her quickly and answer her questions from there. "Kari, Greg's been working as a CSI for over a year now and last night he was attacked while trying to save another man's life." The other line grew dead quite and than she heard the phone drop and she heard Kari yelling for Noah, Greg's father and something about Greg in Norwegian.

"Meg barnet. Noah. Greg's blitt krenke. Meg sønnen, meg baby." The phone picked up and she heard Noah on the other end.

"Jenna what's going on?" His tone was harsh and Jenna found herself fighting to stay calm.

"Greg was beat up last night while working in the field…"

"Why wasn't there another CSI with him? That's how they work, isn't it, one lab tech on rotation, one CSI at a scene."

"Noah, Greg's a CSI now…he's been for over a year now."

"When did this happen?"

"Last night…"

"Why didn't you call us then?" Kari had taken the phone back and was livid.

"Greg asked me to wait till morning; I couldn't leave him alone, Kari."

"My son wouldn't have been alone he would have had his family," snapped Kari and than Noah was speaking to her again.

"Well be there as soon as possible."

"I got you plane tickets and rooms here in town." She heard Noah yelling that at Kari.

"Well at least she did something right." Jenna heard her yelling.

"It's not you she mad at…"

"Your tickets are at the front counter, I'll pick you up from the airport, and your plane should get here around nine. I'll see you than."

"Thank you…for telling us and staying with him." The phone hung up and Jenna hung her end up. She sighed and started to get Greg a change of clothes for him to go home in.

_When they let him go home_. She also got him some of his bathroom stuff for showering. She brewed a pot of his Blue Hawaiian and poured it in a thermos, it would get cold, but it could always be reheated later. She locked up the apartment again and headed to CSI.

"Hey Jen," said Archie. She had gotten Greg's wallet from the evidence locker and was trying to remember which locker Greg said was his.

"Oh, hey Archie. Um, do you know which locker is Greg's, he wanted his I-Pod and he left it here."

"Oh, we were going to bring that to him."

"We?" asked Jenna.

"Oh, me, Wendy, Mandy, Hodges…the lab rats. Greg started out a lab rat and once a lab rat always a lab rat." Jenna let out a small laugh. "Here, this is Greg's locker." Archie opened the locker two doors down from the one Jenna was staring at, Jenna looked at the inside of the locker and was a little surprised to see how neat Greg kept it. She looked at the inside door and took note of the photographs. Him and his parents from last Thanksgiving, a picture of him smiling ear to ear with the other night shift crew in their vests.

"That was taken after he was made an official CSI. Is it ok if we still take him the I-Pod?"

"Yeah, I have to go get Greg's parents from the airport, so you'll see him before me. Can I take this with me?" asked Jenna pointing to the photo of him and the vest.

"Don't see why not," said Archie reaching up to a shelf and grabbing the I-Pod. "Hey, are you ok? Jenna blinked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to take this too." She grabbed the suit Greg had hung up in the locker.

"Ok, well, see you later." Archie took the I-Pod and walked out. Jenna stood there for a moment and looked at the pictures again, one was of them taken at Greg's birthday this year. She had put her head on his and her arms around his neck and they were both grinning at the camera and the cake she had made Greg was shaped like his CSI vest. She shut the locker and headed out.

She started to head for her car when her cell phone went off. She dropped the suit, swore while trying to pick it up and answer her phone.

"Hello," said Jenna.

"Miss Bianchi?"

"Yes…who is this?"

"I'm Joan Heller from channel seven news and we were wondering if you have anything to say about the incident involving Greg Sanders and the young boy he killed?" Jenna was floored.

"How…how did you get this number and how the hell do you know about me and Greg?"

"I have a source at the hospital that says you were with him all night and your cell phone is listed has an emergency business contact."

"And this is not emergency business though, do not call me on my cell again, in fact never call me at any number listed with my name."

"Any comment though."

"Yeah, go to hell." Jenna went to hang up the phone and she dropped it, causing it to break and she also dropped Greg's suit again causing it to fall in giant grease stain, ruining it. She picked it up and sat it down on a bench they had in the parking garage and she started to pick up the broken cell phone pieces and didn't realize she was crying. She threw the pieces in her purse and sat down on the bunch and started to sob like she had wanted to all night. She put her head in her hands and just cried.

_This just…well it sucks and well I want to know why and._ She couldn't find thought to why she was crying, she just wanted to cry.

"Jenna," she looked up and saw Hodges, Wendy, Bobby, Archie, Henry and Mandy standing over her.

"What's wrong, who did this to you?" asked Hodges.

"What…no it's just. Nothing, everything is fine." Bobby pulled out a tissue and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Hodges picked up the suit and refolded it for her and sat down next to her and put a shoulder around her. "Oh you don't need to…"

"Oh I know that." She started to sniffle again and continued to cry. "So I have to ask, did you beat Greg up because he insulted your cooking and he's making up the mob story to cover his ass."

Jenna's eyes got wide and everyone else around him just stared. She looked at Hodges and realized that in some very pathetic way he was trying to cheer her and Greg up, he knew she would tell Greg about this when she saw him later on today, however the other lab techs were looking murderous.

"Greg knows to never insult my cooking…you would be looking for him in Lake Mead if that ever happened." Hodges patted her on the shoulder.

"That a girl." He picked up the suit and handed it to her. "Are you better now?"

"I think so." She stood up and wiped her eyes. "Thank you, I should get going. I have to get Greg's parents." Hodges walked her over to the car and watched her drive away.

"Holy shit…" said Archie, Hodges just glared at him.

"I don't like seeing women cry, even those attached to Sanders. No one is to know about this other than us, her and Sanders," snapped Hodges heading to Bobby's van.

"I think the tin man found his heart," said Wendy following everyone else to the van.

Notes- The song is called Hello I'm in Delaware: From City and Colour. I've found a lot of songs I plan on using in this fic, they just fit really well with the story.

Hospitals are not allowed to have people who have been injured in violent acts so close together,(i.e. cops who have been shot and the person they shot) especially not in side by side rooms to avoid any further violence or trauma.

Love it, hate it, review it please.


	7. Coming clean

Coming clean

Jenna sat in the lounge of McCarran International and just waited for the plane, it was suppose to be here in thirty minutes, but Jenna had a firm belief that airports operated on a total different realm of time unknown to mankind and thirty minutes could take up to three hours. She tapped her foot and started to bite her nails, something she hadn't done in years.

_Stop that!!!_ She sighed and shifted in the chair again, she opened her purse and looked at the phone. It was a lost cause, she would have to get a new one. She really hoped Noah and Kari didn't try to reach her by cell phone. She really couldn't believe Kari's blow up at her. Jenna had always really like Kari and Jenna was looking forward to trying to get their moms together, but after her blow up she wasn't sure.

_She's not mad at you, she mad at the situation, just like you were mad at the nurse for the room mess up._ Jenna sighed and took a sip of the coffee she had bought at the Starbucks, it had a triple shot of something and she had a feeling she was going to need it.

"Flight 715, Los Angeles to Las Vegas now at Gate 7. Flight 715 Los Angeles to Las Vegas now at Gate 7." Jenna threw her cup out and headed over to the gate and just waited. She spotted them the second they got off the plane, they looked just as tired as she did. Jenna hadn't seen them in years, but that was under much happier circumstances. Noah gave her a hug the second he saw her.

"Hello sweetheart."

"Hey." She stepped away from him and looked at Kari who looked blankly at her. Jenna went to give her a hug and Kari stepped away from here. Jenna thought a slap in the face would have been less painful

"I want to see my son." Jenna nodded and went to get the car while they collected their suitcases from baggage claim. Noah got in the front seat and Kari got in the backseat and Jenna started trying to navigate the mess that was the Vegas Strip.

"Can you fill us in a little better about what happened?" asked Noah.

"Umm, Greg was sent out to do a standard pick up of some evidence and on his way there, he witnessed a man being beat up in an alley way. Greg called for back up, but they told him that back up wouldn't be there for another five minutes and he tried to break up the mob himself and save the guy, he did..."

She decided to leave out what happened with Demetrius James and focus on what Greg had done to help someone. "But the mob came back and they pulled Greg out of the SUV and he was beaten up." Kari just glared at her.

"Why didn't you tell us last night!" Noah sighed.

"Kari…."

"He asked me to wait till morning, that's why." Jenna pulled into the parking garage of Desert Palms and parked.

"I don't care, that was my son and I should have been with him first thing." Kari got out the car, slammed the door and started walking to the entrance. Jenna sighed and started getting Greg's stuff out of the car, Noah came around and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She's not mad at you, I swear." Jenna nodded and they started walking to the entrance. "How long has Greg been in the field?"

"Almost two years now," she fished out the picture she had taken from Greg's locker. "That's him and the whole team." Noah smiled at the picture and looked at Jenna.

"He told us he was in the lab."

"He didn't want you to worry about him." Noah shook his head and pulled out a cigarette and lit up.

"You won't tell Kari about this…I've tried quitting."

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm having a craving for rum like you wouldn't believe." Noah took a drag and exhaled.

"I should have known Greg would go into the field after the lab exploded."

"It was more than that…he was bored." Noah gave her a small smile that reminded her so much of Greg's.

"We always had trouble making sure he wasn't bored when he was younger. I swear he couldn't stay interested in anything for more than five minutes. I thought it was ADHD, we had him tested, realized that it was us not him. He just needed something that got his attention, I was really surprised when my son turned into the school science nerd." Jenna grinned.

"We all can't be popular, I was a choir nerd." Noah finished his cigarette and they walked inside.

"Kari probably already beat a nurse to get his location. She didn't mean to snap at you…but Greg's, well he's her baby. Her only baby, we tried forever to have more kids after Greg and after we got married, but we just lost them. When Greg was fourteen, we came really close and got to eight months, but she was stillborn. After that, they told Kari children would be impossible and she got very protective of Greg. I think you were the first girl she actually liked for Greg, no one else was good enough for her son."

"I hope not to lose that title." They took an elevator up to the seventh floor and Jenna took him to Greg's room. Kari was already there and fussing over Greg who looked like he wanted to drown.

"He was alone," snapped Kari, Greg groaned.

"I wasn't until about an hour ago, I told the guys I was tired and they left to go get some sleep." Jenna went over to Greg's bedside and gave him a kiss.

"I got you your coffee, I'll have to find a microwave to warm it up in, but it's still good."

"Thanks…the stuff here really does suck. Hodges offered to do a trace analysis on it after having a cup." Noah came forward and hugged his son carefully and started to tease him.

"Didn't I tell you not pick on kids who were bigger than you." Greg shrugged.

"You know me, I always liked a challenge."

" Never could stay out of trouble, when Jenna called I though you had blown yourself up again."

"Once was enough, trust me."

"What were you thinking?!" snapped Kari near tears. "You're not a cop, you're a scientist and just what was going through your head?" Greg sighed.

"I was worried that someone was going to die and that it was going to happen right in front of me and that I could stop it." Kari looked the only thing stopping her from shaking him was the fact that he was in bed.

"Kari," said Jenna softly.

"You stay out of this, this has nothing to do with you, and this is between family." Jenna took Greg's hand and looked at his mother. She couldn't protect Greg yesterday, but she could today and quite frankly she was tired of people treating her like shit today.

"They called me because I was the closest thing he had to family out here and I'll stay out of this if that's what Greg wants. Your son saved another man's life and did so while risking his own. If you can't take pride in the fact that he did that, than get back on the plane and go home." Greg and Noah looked at her shocked and Kari just stared her with her mouth opened. She blinked and wiped her eyes.

"I just…Greg why didn't you tell me you left the lab?"

_I was scared you freak out like this._ Greg gave Jenna's hand a squeeze.

"Why don't you go find somewhere to warm that coffee up?"

"Ok. I'll be back." She walked out and shut the door to his room behind her, he wanted a moment alone with his parents and she knew he needed that to explain what she couldn't.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Kari and Noah pulled up chairs next to Greg and he sighed, feeling much older than thirty one and looked at his mom, he decided to address what she said to Jenna first.

"That was uncalled for what you said to her. I consider Jenna very much apart of my life and family. If you want to yell at me than yell at me, I lied to you and to her. She thought you guys knew about me being in the field and I lied about how we met, I was the CSI on her case, not just the lab guy."

"When were you going to tell us?" asked Noah

"I don't know…never if I could have gotten away with it."

"Why?" asked Kari.

"I just, I knew you would freak out…it's just I wanted to go into the field. I was just so tired and bored of working with test tubes and machines, I wanted something new and something that was different and I got than when I became a CSI, I get to see the people I help and I like that, but I knew you would freak so I just kept it to myself."

"You shouldn't have," said Noah putting a hand on his son's shoulder. "Greg, you're an adult and while we don't always understand or like the decisions you're going to make, they're yours." Kari wiped her eyes and Greg took her hand.

"I just wanted to protect you." Kari kissed her son's forehead and hugged him.

"That's not your job…I'm sorry I snapped at Jenna, she didn't deserve that, but when she told me what happened to you I just lost it. I know your not my baby anymore, but its still hard to let go Gregory. Even if it's someone like her, its serious with her isn't it?" Greg nodded.

"Yeah, it is. I really like being with her." He grinned at his mom and she patted his head.

"So does that mean I can start planning on Christmas shopping for grandbabies." Greg made a face at her.

"Right now, considering all the kicks I took to that area, I don't even want to think about what making you grandbabies would involve." Her face grew serious and Greg mentally kicked himself. "I'm joking, no long term damage, I will mack again." Noah grinned at his son.

"I'm sure Jenna will love to hear that."

"Love to hear what?" asked Jenna holding a stack of coffee cups and the thermos of coffee. Kari came up and took the cups out of her hands and hugged her.

"That he still has the ability to mack. I'm sorry I snapped at you…it wasn't you it was…"

"The situation," said Jenna looking at her with a tired smile.

"The situation," agreed Kari.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Kari and Noah went to check into their hotel room a block away from the hospital a few hours later leaving Greg and Jenna alone for the time being. The bed in this room was bigger than the one he had downstairs and Jenna was curled next to him on his left side and Greg was playing with her hair.

"So how much of a bitch was my mom with you when you first got a hold of her." Jenna gave him a look.

"One a scale of one to ten…I'm going to say fifteen." He shook his head and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry that I had you break the news to them about me being a CSI, I just couldn't do it, and I knew she would freak out and I was right, but she seems to be coping better than I thought." Jenna took a deep breath.

"I didn't tell her about Demetrius James. I just wasn't sure how you would want to deal with that." Greg sighed.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready to tell them about that yet. I'm not sure how to tell them what happened."

"A reporter called my cell today." Greg's non swollen eye got wide.

"What, how did they know to get a hold of your cell? What did you tell them?"

"I told them to go to hell and they had a source here at the hospital that placed me here with you all night and they got my cell because is listed as my emergency business contact." Greg made a noise of disgust.

"Freaking leeches. I'm sorry." Jenna looked at him.

"Sorry for what?"

"This, dragging you into this, having you deal my mom and well everything." Jenna snuggled a little closer to him.

"You would do the same thing for me right?"

"I don't know if I could be as calm as you." Jenna snorted.

"I had a minor crying fit in the parking garage of the crime lab, dropped my cell phone and broke it. I also dropped your suit into a grease mess and ruined it. Hodges and all the lab rats saw my crying fit and Hodges was nice to me for thirty seconds. It was a little scary."

"If it makes you feel any better I had a male nurse feeling on me. He told me I had pretty eyes."

"Well you do have very pretty eyes, il mio angelo."

"It's not fair to talk to me in your sexy voice when I can't have you." Jenna just gave him her evil smirk.

"It's nice to see your feeling a little better. So, how are you holding up?"

"Tired, sore, worried, a whole mix of things I can't put my finger on." Jenna let him put her head on her chest. "I'm worried about going back to work, what people are going to say? I'm worried about the fact that reporters are already sniffing around." According to Grissom, I'm supposed to have a meeting with the Under sheriff and Ecklie when I get out of the hospital to talk about me working again."

"They're not going to fire you are they?"

"Grissom says no…but Ecklie and the Under sheriff are douche bags to the tenth degree." Jenna groaned.

"Makes me wish I was real Italian and not Olive Garden Italian."

"Don't worry about me, I'm going to be fine. I do have some good news, they told me I could go home tomorrow if I was a good boy."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't need any surgery, just bed rest and I would rather do that at home than here." Jenna sighed.

"Well than you need to get off me, so I can get the apartment clean and ready for you to come home. Plus your parents are coming and I think they would like some alone time with you. Are you going to tell them what happened?"

"Yeah, I think I am. I would rather that they hear it from me than getting called by some bitchy reporter." Greg sat up and Jenna got off the bed and got her purse. Kari and Noah walked into the room and gave her a look.

"Oh sweetie you don't need to leave because of us," said Kari.

"I'm going home to get things ready for when Mr. Sickly gets released tomorrow." Kari grinned at her son.

"They're letting you go."

"Well I don't need a kidney so I'm just taking up space." Jenna gave him one last kiss and left him for the night. Noah and Kari sat down next to him holding a box of Chinese take out.

"Are you up to eating?" asked Noah.

"I'm always up to eating. I've only been here a day and I'm sick of Jell-O already." Greg opened the box of noodles and dug in. He was still trying to figure out how to tell his parents what happened to him last night. Greg sat the box aside and took a deep breath and looked at his parents.

"Mom, Dad. I wanna tell you about what happened last night."

"Oh honey you don't need too," said Kari.

"Kari," said Noah his tone warning. "Let him talk."

"Ok. I'm sorry Greg, go ahead," said Kari.

"Yesterday, I did my first jury trail and I freaking buried the guy and I was feeling really good about well…everything. So when Grissom, my boss, tapped me to go collect from a liquor store robbery he let me go solo and it was my first time ever going solo and I was just really excited about it, I mean by letting me go solo that meant he thought I was ready to handle scenes and be the primary CSI for once. I was on my way to go collect from the scene and I was driving past an alleyway and I saw it out of the corner of my eye…if I had been going a little faster I wouldn't have seen it." Greg took a sip of water trying to get his thoughts back.

"We were working scenes based on these mob beating, they head already killed one guy and they sent one girl to the hospital. So when I saw them beating on that guy…I freaked, I radioed for back up, but I knew they weren't going to get there fast enough and he could die waiting for help. So I drove into the alley and tried to break up the mob, most of the guys ran away…but one guy…he stayed there, just kicking shit out of this poor guy…he looked at me, right in the eyes and I thought he was going to run away. But he picked up a rock and I thought he was going to kill that guy right in front of me, but he started coming at me with it and I don't care a gun or anything so I freaked. I hit the gas and…I hit him with the SUV mom…and…than…

_Three guys were on him before he knew what to do. Two seemed to be holding him, while the other punched him stomach. He felt someone kicking him in the back with a pointed shoe and he almost broke free when the two guys pushed up to a chain link fence and one guy started punching him in the back and in the kidneys. Greg tried to hold on to the fence when they grabbed his vest again and threw him to the ground, hitting his head._

"It's sort of a blur after I hit my head. But, they guy they were beating on lived…but the guy…the guy I hit. He died mom, he died and it's my fault and…" he hated that his parents were seeing him cry like he was five years old. But, he took another person's life and it still freaked him out. He didn't understand how Jenna couldn't think it wasn't his fault. He stepped on the gas, he hit the kid, and if he hadn't hit the kid he would still be alive.

_But would you, would Stanley Tanner still be alive if you hadn't of hit that kid? _Greg felt his mother sit down next to him and just held him and let him cry. His father took his hand and squeezed.

"It's going to be alright Greggo. I don't know when, but it's going to be alright." Kari kissed his forehead.

"I still love you, no matter what happens you're my son and nothing will ever change how much I love you. Get some sleep, we'll stay to you fall asleep." Greg let his mother tuck him in and eventually he drifted off to sleep.

Reviews?


	8. Home coming

Homecoming

"It's a dumb policy," whined Greg. "I can walk; I didn't break anything below my waist." Jenna just rolled her eyes and looked at Kari.

"Is he always this stubborn?"

"I was going to tie him to his bed when he was nine and had chicken pox. He wouldn't stay in his bed and he drove me crazy for two weeks straight."

"Gee I love you too, fine I'll get in the damn chair," said Greg finally agreeing to get in the wheelchair so the nurse could take them to the front desk to be discharged.

"Come on you big baby, lets get the show on the road," said Mimi who was on call. "Now remember rest or bed rest. Physical activities are to be kept to minimal things like walking to the bathroom and standing in the shower are ok…running marathons or playing Dance Dance Revolution is not ok. Jenna, make sure the bandages on the wrist and head stay dry, clean and they get changed every eight to ten hours, plus the ice packs to get that swelling down." She pulled out a list for Jenna. "Here are his prescriptions, one's a pain killer and the other is something to treat the road rash on his forehead. Any questions?"

"No, it's just like old times almost." Mimi frowned at her.

"Well you took good care of your mother so at least I feel alright about releasing him. I swear there getting to god damn penny pinching for my taste around here. I understand now why Vanessa went to being a private nurse. Here we are." There was some dickering about the bill and insurance, but it was cleared up and Greg was trying to sign forms left handed.

"Mr. Sanders," Greg and his father both turned around and Jenna grinned. Stanley Tanner was right behind them.

"Hey, you still doing ok?" asked Greg.

"Getting ready to head home, I think I've had enough of the Sin City to last me a life time. Are these your parents?" asked Stanley. Greg nodded.

"This is my mom Kari and my dad Noah. This is Stanley Tanner." Stanley took Noah's hand and shook it.

"You both raised a good man here; I hope you're proud of him."

"We are," said Kari. They said their goodbyes and left the hospital and headed home.

………………………………………………………………………………….

Gabriel jumped on Greg's lap the second he sat down and started rubbing on him and he soon found the cat purring in his lap.

"Where is Gabriel and what have you done with him?" asked Greg, Jenna handed him a bowl of baked potato soup and grinned.

"He missed you…he walked around all last night and meowed for you." Kari and Noah just grinned.

"He seems to like you a lot," said Kari she reached over and petted the cat.

"Normally he's glaring at me to stay away from Jenna. Maybe I should go away more often huh fuzzy ball?" The cat just rolled over and showed his belly. "I still think he's been drugged." Jenna served everyone else their soup before sitting down and eating her own. Greg looked around the apartment and noticed that several boxes were unpacked and gone.

"When did you find time to get stuff unpacked?" Jenna shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep last night so I finished the living room, bedroom and the office, I was also able to get a new cell phone and recycled all the boxes." She let out a yawn and Kari frowned at her.

"You need to get some rest or you'll be in the hospital next." Jenna shrugged.

"Me and Starbucks have been best friends the past couple of days. I'm fine; I used to run on less sleep during college." She yawned again and got up to do dishes.

"At least let me help you," said Kari.

"I got it," said Jenna.

"Stubborn much?" asked Noah. Jenna went to say something back when someone knocked at the door. "I'll get it." Noah got up and answered the door and Greg was surprised to see Grissom, Under Sheriff McKeen and Ecklie standing in the doorway.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" asked Noah.

_Oh it's the gift that keeps on giving_, thought Greg. Jenna came out from the kitchen wiping her hands on a dish towel, looked at the three men and gave a small smile to Grissom.

"Hello Jen, may we come in?" asked Grissom.

"Sure." Noah stepped out the way and the trio came in and Jenna could have sworn the air in the apartment went down ten degrees. She had heard from Greg about the fights between these three and she could only imagine the effort it took them to present a united front.

"Can I get you some coffee?" asked Jenna. McKeen just gave her a glance.

"Thank you young lady, but this isn't a social call." Jenna had a feeling it was a good thing he didn't want any, she would have spit in it just for her own amusement. Grissom raised an eyebrow.

"Now really Jeff, where are you manners? I would love a cup, Ecklie would you like a cup? She makes very good coffee," said Grissom with a slight smirk. Jenna just grinned and Ecklie shook his head no. Jenna got Grissom his coffee, Greg introduced his parents to the trio and Jenna when sat down next to Greg the other three men pulled up chairs and McKeen started off the meeting trying to appear concerned.

"I'm glad to see you out the hospital Sanders, saving that man was a very brave thing. However, there is the issue of what happened to Demetrius James. We read the statement you gave to Sidle and when you come back to work we expect you to give your own report. Until the coroner's inquest, we'll have to put you on desk duty when you come back."

"Coroner's inquest?" asked Jenna. "What's that?" McKeen looked annoyed at her and Grissom just sipped his coffee.

"She's a voter Jeffrey and a respected business owner. You should play nice with her; it could come back and bite you in the ass if you don't."

_Damn Grissom is on a roll,_ thought Jenna. McKeen turned his attention to her.

"An inquest is used to determine culpability in cases when a person employed with Sheriff is accused of a misconduct involving suspects or civilians. An inquest will be held to determine if the actions Greg took with Demetrius James where justifiable, excusable or criminal."

"So it's a trial," said Jenna.

"No not really," said McKeen. "In the event that the actions are found criminal, it will go to a trial." Jenna looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well I'm sorry, but that sound ridiculous. His actions weren't criminal, he was defending himself." Ecklie took over speaking for McKeen.

"Sadly it's not in our hands; it's in the hands of the jury selected for the inquest." Kari shot him a look.

"Jury, I thought you said this wasn't a trail. Well, excuse me for saying this but if it sounds like a duck than it is a duck and this sounds like a trail to me." McKeen looked sorry that he had paid a home visit to Greg, Ecklie looked like he wanted the floor to sallow him and Grissom seem to be enjoying the show.

"What exactly happens at this inquest?" asked Noah who was sharing his wife thoughts that this was a fancy way to try to cover up a trail.

"One of our ADA will present the case and the witnesses; she will also represent Greg's interest and than the jury will rule the death justifiable, excusable or criminal."

"What's the difference between justifiable and excusable?" asked Jenna.

"Justifiable is when that the action was the only alternative that Greg had and excusable is that what he did was lawful act with no intention to kill," said Ecklie.

"Forgive me for saying this but this sounds like a waste of money I pay in taxes. Greg defended himself and saved someone life and quite frankly it's really no different than if I defend myself against someone who breaks into my home."

"It is because Greg is an officer of the law, we hold him to a higher standard," said McKeen. "Plus it helps the family understand what happened and give them closure." Greg tried to head Jenna off the pass, but she going and well it was something he had always sort of dreamed of, someone yelling at McKeen and Ecklie.

"Oh they want closure! Well that's nice, do I get to ask them why one of their family members was out in the street beating people up?"

"Sadly no, they can ask questions of Greg, not the other way around," said Grissom. "Greg, your ADA is Valerie Nichols she's very good and she'll arrange to meet with you when you're feeling a little better and hopeful she have better manners than the three of us combined." Greg gave a small grin at Grissom.

"Well, we'll be going now. The hearing is in six weeks, I would advise you Miss. Bianchi if you wish to attend the inquest with Mr. Sanders that you get a handle on your temper."

"I only lose my temper with people who come into my home and won't take a cup of coffee from me." She gave him a smile and slammed the door behind him. "Asshole, god who voted him in, remind me to run a campaign to have anyone but him in office next time elections come around." Greg sighed.

"At least I'm not fired."

"Why would they fire you, your not at fault."

"Jen, I hit him." Noah looked between the two of them and knew they needed to be alone.

"Kari, I think we should get out of their hair," said Noah, she back and forth between she son and Jenna and sighed.

"Behave, both of you." She hugged them both and they both left.

"Greg, you're not responsible for what happened in that alley. Sara told me that the shoes that kid was wearing matched the shoe patterns on the dead guy. He killed someone and was going to kill either you or Stanley Tanner if you didn't do something. I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry he's dead." Greg's jaw dropped.

"What…how…how can you not feel bad about his death?"

"Because he was going to kill you and yeah I think that's why I don't feel bad," snapped Jenna. Greg stood up and headed for the bedroom.

"I'm going to bed." Jenna refused to back down from this.

"Talk to me."

"Don't want to," he called from the bedroom; she followed him into the bedroom.

"Look, I don't want to fight with you."

"Are we fighting?" snapped Greg getting into the bed.

"I'm snapping at you and you're snapping at me…yeah I think we're fighting and I really don't want to."

"Then stop it, ok. I'm tired and you're tired and the last seventy two hours have been really shitty for the both of us. Just come to bed alright, we both need some sleep." Jenna sighed, she hated the fact that he felt guilty about some kid who was murderer and could have killed him. She changed into a night shirt and got in bed next to Greg. He put his back up against her chest.

"Can you be the big spoon?" asked Greg, Jenna wrapped one arm around him carefully so she didn't hurt his ribs. He took her hand in his and kissed it. "I missed you."

"Me too." She was so tired from everything she was out like a light in less than five minutes.

………………………………………………………………………………….

She was woken up by Greg tossing and turning in his sleep, she went to wake him up.

"No…stop it, STOP IT!"

"Greg…" she put a hand on his shoulder and his fist missed her head by an inch. "GREG!" He seemed to be shocked to find himself in his bed at home and Jenna looking at him horrified.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I just…" he broke down and pulled Jenna into a hug. After what felt like hours of telling Greg she wasn't upset with him Jenna got him to lay back down and they soon fell back asleep.

_I'm upset with the bastards who started this mess. _


	9. Red eye promises

Red eye promises

November 2006

"Hello." Jenna reached over and grabbed the phone with her free hand.

"Killer," hissed the voice on the other end. Jenna bit back a groan, it was another crank caller. They called at least three times a day and if they didn't answer they left foul messages on the answering machine. The inquest was next week and they callers seemed to have stepped it up a notch. Greg had stopped answering the phone and he unplugged the answering machine. Jenna on the other hand just answered to shut them up; this was the fifth one today and she had decided that this was going to get a piece of her mind.

"Your man is nothing but a kid killer."

"You know I'm a little disappointed in this call," said Jenna cutting up carrots for a salad.

"What?!" The caller seemed shocked that she was talking back.

"It's just that I've heard this little speech like five times this week and it's only Wednesday. I mean are you guys all in a club and you share your little harassment messages." Greg came into the kitchen and gave her a look and eyed the phone.

"Bitch you think this is funny?" said the caller. Jenna grabbed a cooked chicken breast and kept talking.

"Oh yes this is comical and yet it's a little sad that the only way you can get it up is by calling my house and being an asshole."

"Hang up the phone," said Greg.

"Bitch."

"Yeah why don't you come and say it to my face," said Jenna hanging up.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Greg, Jenna tossed the chicken into the salad and shrugged.

"It was nothing."

"Don't do that anymore," said Greg taking a tone with her.

"Do what?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Don't screw with the creeps, who call here, I'm serious!" Jenna just rolled her eyes.

"They're cowards." She slammed the salad down on the table and went to get the bowls and Greg was on her heels.

"Don't give them a reason to step it up than." _God_ Greg didn't think it was possible to be so pissed off with her. He wished that she would take this seriously, he had heard from the other CSI's about people who didn't take a crank caller seriously, pissed them off and the person ended up in a ditch twenty miles outside of town.

"I'm not going to let a bunch of heavy breathing; insult spouting, low life punks decide what I can and cannot do." She went to set the table and Greg grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him.

"I'm serious, all it could take is one shitty remark to set them off and it goes from phone calls to being in your face. Promise me you'll just hang up next time."

"Fine I'll hang up! Here I'll even do you one better." She walked over and unplugged the phone from the wall. "There problem solved." She sat down and started having dinner. Greg was wondering if this was how Catherine felt when she took Lindsey down to the morgue and showed her what happens to girls who hitchhike in Vegas. He honestly didn't know what to do to make her understand how serious he was about this. He sat down across from her and started eating dinner.

"I'm calling the phone company tomorrow and having the number changed." Jenna rolled her eyes, but kept eating.

"What!" snapped Greg glaring at her.

"It's like rolling over and saying they win, that's why." He sighed and sat his fork down and took her hand. He knew what the real issue was, it was the fact that she couldn't do anything about what was going on. Jenna had always been a fighter for everything she had and for the people she cared about and he knew that not being to do anything to control what was going on was pissing her off and he had a feeling that telling her what to do was pissing her off even more.

"Jen…I just, I'm tired of this." _I'm tired of the calls, I'm tired of reporters, and I'm tired of fighting with you._

"I know, me too." They finished dinner in silence and Jenna started doing dishes while Greg made his lunch for work, he was getting ready to leave when she spoke up.

"Um, I know that things have been well, shitty, to say the least for the last couple of weeks and I was thinking that maybe after the inquest is over and things settle down how would you feel about skipping town for awhile? No phone, no work, just us."

"I'll have to ask Grissom for the time off and see what he says."

"Try for the weeks during Christmas and New Years, so I can ditch and not feel bad for leaving my workers alone." Greg gave her a kiss.

"Let's just wait and see. I'll see you in the morning."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Maybe a vacation wouldn't be such a bad idea_, thought Greg collecting evidence from an arson that happened at a sex offender house and two boys in the neighborhood were also missing. He collected a gas can from the seat of the car, took photos of it and bagged it. It sloshed when he picked it up, there was still gas in the can. Nick thought the fire jumped from the car to the house, the gas can in the front proved that Nick was right. Greg took it into one of the processing labs and thought about what Jenna had suggested.

_When was the last time I went on a vacation? It would be nice to be get away for awhile._ Greg yawned, he hadn't slept again last night, and the nightmares were still vivid even after a month. He had slept a little better when Jenna was home with him the first couple of weeks, but after three weeks of nearly getting smacked when she tried to wake him up from a nightmare, she had started waiting till he was asleep and than sleep on the couch, and sadly it was something that continued even when they had days off together.

_I miss her._ Greg made himself focus on work and he showed Sara what he had found.

"A gas container," she said without surprise.

"Yeah I found it melted to the floor board."

"People are so predictable."

"Lucky for us." Greg placed the can under a fume hood and started to figure out the best way to get the gas out.

"What do you have in mind?" asked Sara.

"I think if we can get a clean sample of the gas than we can get some gas DNA and we can compare it to local stations and see if Carl Fisher bought the gas." Sara patted his head.

"Good job." She leaned over and turned on the CD player and turned it up loud. "So how are you?"

_The information is ravenous  
The ticker tape feeds the mind  
Looking for a lost transmission  
A heaven that we left behind_

"Thinking about going on vacation after the inquest?"

"Really? Where?" asked Sara taking notes of the other items pulled from the car.

"Not sure, somewhere that isn't here." Sara looked at him.

"That bad huh?"

"It's just. If you weren't a CSI how would you deal with that we do?" asked Greg.

"I don't know, why do you ask?" Greg filled her in on the crank calls and how Jenna didn't seem to take them seriously and how freaked his was a about the inquest.

"Have you told Jenna this?" asked Sara.

"She tells me it's not my fault about what happened and it sets off a whole new round of fighting and well, Jenna and I never used to fight and now it's pretty much an every other day thing now." Sara went to say something when Grissom came in and clicked off the cd.

"Didn't we talk about this once before Greg?" said Grissom in his pissed off voice. _Fucking hell what's next_

"I'm the one who turned the music on," said Sara and Grissom gave her a look and Greg really wished that they had never started seeing each other or whatever it was they had going on he wasn't in the mood for it. Greg filled Grissom in on what he found and how he hoped to do a gas comparison with Hodges.

"They're only credible if you get a pure sample, otherwise there are too many variables."

"I know that Grissom, what I got never touched the fire so if we can match it to a station by a dye or chemical make-up we got him. I'm going to take this to Hodges." Greg left the lab feeling annoyed with Grissom and the more he thought about it that vacation was sounding better and better every second.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"The gas DNA panned out," said Greg after driving all over Vegas collecting gasoline, at least the lab was going to pay him back for this. Grissom looked shocked when Greg handed him the final report.

"It did?!" Grissom opened the file and started reading it.

"Yeah Hodges and I traced the gas back to a service station near Fisher's house, he bought sixteen gallons of gas and his car only holds fourteen and he paid for it with his ATM card, not the same as cash."

"Thanks Greg." Grissom took the file and headed into his office. Greg was happy that his shift was over and went to go and change.

"Oh Greggo, I have mail for you," said Judy at the front desk. Judy handed him a package and a message from Detective Vega that was marked as urgent. Greg sighed, he really didn't want to deal with another case. He headed to the locker room and opened the box and realized that he forget that he order this weeks ago for Jenna.

He made sure that no one else was in the locker room and opened it to make sure it was what he had ordered. He knew that with her working in a bakery, rings were really pointless and that she would worry about ruining it all the time, she told him the only reason she had worn the ring Andy had given her was to make him happy, but she had always been worried about losing it. Greg opened the box and examined the necklace, it was silver with an emerald set into a silver backing. Yeah, she was going to like this. He wasn't sure now though about going through with it, all they had done was snap at each other the last few weeks.

_Hey they say it's for better or for worst and I think this should count as the worst and so far I haven't found my stuff piled up outside and flaming._

"Hey Greggo, what you playing with?" asked Nick. Greg stuffed the necklace in his pocket.

"Nothing," he lied.

"Whatever, hey Vega is tearing the place apart trying to find you."

"Do you know what for?"

"Nope, I would I just talk to him and get it over with." Greg put what he needed in his locker and went to find Vega. Vega was waiting for him by the front desk and looking worried.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Greg.

"Greg, I need you to come with me right away," A black guy was being hauled in booking and was yelling the whole time, his white shirt was covered with something red.

"Bitch told me to come say it to her face!" They got the guy into booking and Vega looked at Greg.

"I need you to come with me to Desert Palms, Jenna's waiting for you."

"Whoa wait back up a second, what happened why is she at Desert Palms?" asked Greg feeling his heart fall into his stomach.

"That asshole we just brought in threw red paint in her eyes while she was at work. I figure it was better you hear it from me, than from day shift who's working the scene right now. CSI Tate is with her right now and I've been assigned to her case. Follow me there?" Greg nodded and headed to the parking garage and was torn between being pissed at the guy who did this to her and worry about her.

_God let her be ok_

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Greg found Jenna sitting in one of the screened off treatment rooms in her jeans and a hospital gown. Her hair was streaked with dried red paint, but one of the nurses had cleaned up her face and had wrapped her eyes in gauze. A doctor was finishing up with her.

"You're very lucky it was non toxic or else we could have been looking at vision loss. Here are your eye drops, three drops, each eye every six hours to clear up any irritation. You can remove the gauze in the tomorrow morning, no bright light until than, and give your eyes a rest. If you have any trouble seeing anything after two days, I want you to come and see me ASAP."

"Ok," said Jenna. The doctor left and Greg sat down next to Jenna.

"Jen," she turned her head to the sound of his voice.

"Greg?" God he had hated it when he couldn't see and he took her hand.

"Yeah it's me." He looked at Tate, she was younger than Greg and had just moved here from Utah and he started questioning her about what she collected.

"Relax Sanders I got lots of pictures, I bagged her shirt, got some hair samples with the paint in it and paint from the bakery, plus ten eye witness who saw everything. Plus they caught the guy and he's singing to high heaven that he did it."

"Greg it's alright, I'm fine." He started to stammer.

"I call being in the hospital and having paint thrown in your eyes the opposite of being fine!" Jenna went to say something when Vega walked in.

"Hello, I'm Detective Vega…I think we might have met at a Christmas party last year?"

"You did a really good impression of Ricky Martin."

"Can we cut the pleasantries and get to what happened?" asked Greg. Greg knew if Jenna was blind she would be glaring at him and Vega gave him a look.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was in the kitchen, designing some orders, when Megan who was working front of house came in the back and told me someone wanted to see me up front."

"Didn't seem odd?" asked Tate.

"No, we get walk in's all the time and people ask to speak to me first. So I headed out and she pointed to a guy who was looking at a display, he had his back turned."

"Can you remember what he looks like?" asked Tate.

"Tall, black…I think he had some braids. Jeans, white shirt, I think he may have been holding a jacket. Um, I went up to him and asked him what he wanted, he asked if I was me and I said yeah and the next thing I remember is a mouth full of paint."

"Your manager Ofilia says that he called you a 'bitch' and he told us that you told him to come say it to your face." Greg looked at Vega and than back a Jenna.

"Well go on, tell him about last night," said Greg.

"We've been getting this crank calls and I lost my temper with one of them who called me a bitch and I told him to come and say it to my face." Vega looked shocked.

"That wasn't a very bright thing to do."

"Well I was pissed and really considering that he's been crank calling the house I didn't think he had the balls to confront me in person. And hind sight is twenty/twenty so if you and Greg are done reading me the riot act, I want to go home. Oh when can I get my necklace back?" Tate held up the bag that had the necklace Greg had given her when they started dating back in college and it was covered in paint.

"We'll see," said Tate. "I know you night shift guys don't like day shift, but relax I got everything and this guy will serve some time even if I have to haul him there myself." She picked up the bags and headed out. Vega closed his notebook.

"If I have anything else I need to ask you, I'll call." Vega left them and Greg sighed.

"Come on let's go home."

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

He fumed in silence all the way home, he was so pissed off at her.

_I told her not to piss those guys off and she did and look where it got her._

_Oh hold up, you're not victim blaming are you?_ One of the first thing that Greg had learned was you never blame the victim, it does matter what the case or what happened, the victim is never at fault. It didn't matter if it was a rape victim walking naked down Freemont Street it was never their fault. But still, hadn't he told her to be careful and not piss these guys off? They got to the apartment and Greg helped Jenna up the stairs and into the apartment.

"I can walk you know," teased Jenna setting on the couch, Greg started to pace, he couldn't sit still he was so pissed.

"What the hell were you thinking! God do you have any idea how lucky you are that it wasn't spray paint, or acid or some else that could have caused you to go blind. Christ Jenna, what if he had had a knife or gun, did you think of that?"

"I was trying not to, thank you for making me do that."

"Well maybe you should think about that the next time you decide to piss off a random stranger on the phone."

"Greg, my head hurts are we done."

"No, I'm not done, hell I haven't even started. Christ you could be dead right now, I'm changing the phone number and until the inquest is over I don't want working front of house." She stood up and started to fumble her way towards the bedroom. "Don't you walk away from me!"

"It seems to work for you and don't tell me how to run my business, I didn't tell you couldn't go back to the field after getting the shit beat out of you! " Greg let her go and he heard the bedroom door slam.

"Fine!" He walked out the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg unlocked the apartment around six pm, the sun was already setting and the apartment was dark. He walked into the dark bedroom and saw Jenna lying on her side of the bed with her I-Pod in her ears and Gabriel curled up on her hip and he glared at Greg as if saying

_Way to go dumbass._ Greg laid down on the bed next her and Gabriel jumped off and went to the foot of the bed, watching Greg. He pulled one of the buds out of her ear and pushed the hair away from the ear.

"Can I listen too?" She shrugged and he put the bud in his ear and pulled her close.

_Where'd you go?  
I miss you so,  
Seems like it's been forever,  
That you've been gone._

She said "Some days I feel like shit,  
Some days I wanna quit, and just be normal for a bit,"  
I don't understand why you have to always be gone,  
I get along but the trips always feel so long,  
And, I find myself trying to stay by the phone,  
'Cause your voice always helps me to not feel so alone,  
But I feel like an idiot, workin' my day around the call,  
But when I pick up I don't have much to say,  
So, I want you to know it's a little fucked up,  
That I'm stuck here waitin', at times debatin',  
Tellin' you that I've had it with you and your career,  
Me and the rest of the family here singing "Where'd you go?"

He reached over her and turned the I-Pod off. "I'm sorry, that I yelled at you, it was shitty and that's probably an under statement. I just…I don't want to see you get hurt. I can't see my life without you and I don't want to." She rolled over and face him.

"I'm fine…trust me. I'm going to get hurt, that's life…I would just like it if the hurt wasn't from you." He nodded and took her hand.

"I thought about us going on that trip. I think it would be a really good idea, just us."

"Yeah?" She moved into his arms and put her head on his chest. He felt her start to melt into him and he realized that the last time they had been together was the night before his attack, almost six weeks ago. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace.

"Yeah, just us. You know I love you right."

"When I'm not being a pain in your ass."

"I love you even when you're being a pain in my ass. Jen, will you marry me?" Greg knew if her eyes weren't hidden they would be wide.

"Greg…"

"Just hear me out. I love you, I've always love you, you're it for me in this life and I know that I don't want to be with anyone else but you and…Jen just say yes please."

"Yes."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah I want to marry you." She gave him her left hand and he laughed.

"I got you a necklace instead of ring, because of your work." Greg moved her hair aside and hooked the chain on her neck. "I wish you could see it."

"It will be here tomorrow." Jenna pulled him into a kiss he had wanted for weeks and even with her eye patches on she was still beautiful.

The Information by Beck was the lab song used in the episode Burn Out

Where'd You Go? by Fort Minor was the I-Pod song


	10. Screaming in Silence

Screaming in silence

Jenna felt sick to her stomach and she forced herself to finish her toast while Greg was getting ready. Today was the inquest and while Jenna felt the ADA Greg had been assigned to would do a good job, the reporters had been swarming around this story like there was no tomorrow. She and Greg had been instructed that they were not to talk to any reporter and they were to keep their mouths shut about the case. The only person who knew anything was Ofilia and Jenna only talked to her after hours when the two were alone in her office.

She sighed and took a sip of her tea; this week had broken the laws of physics by sucking and blowing at the same time. Her eyes were still a little sore from the paint incident and two of her new girls had quit the day after Jenna was attackedand now she was scrambling trying to find temps for the Christmas holiday and was having shitty luck at best.

_I'm going on a bender after this, I'm going to drink myself into a stupor and I'm going to love the hell out it._ She fiddled with her new necklace and grinned slightly, this canceled out everything that had happened this week. They were keeping this to themselves also…well Ofilia knew she was helping her look into all the stuff she would need to have her name changed and having her business changed also. She finished her tea and heard Greg swearing from the bedroom. Jenna walked in and found him fighting with a tie.

"Figures the one damn day I need to do this." Jenna took the tie from him and started to knot it.

"You're lucky I had to spend all those years helping Frankie with his ties." She tied it and looked at him. "It's going to be alright."

"I wish I had your faith in the justice system." Greg put on the suit jacket and started buttoning it.

"Considering you work in the justice system, shouldn't you have a little faith in it?" She grabbed a lint brush and got the few fuzzies off his back. Greg sighed.

"I just, I want it to be done." He started to fiddle with her necklace. "I'm looking forward to January."

They had decided to go to Hawaii for their trip in January and get married before their flight left, after all it was Vegas and you could get married in under ten minutes if you wanted. They knew that if their parents found out they were eloping they would be dead, but it's what they wanted. After all the shit they had put up with the last two months they wanted something quite. They agreed that during the spring they would tell the family with a party. They hoped that with all the witnesses present their parents would not kill them.

"We just need to get through the next two days and things will go back to normal." He gave her hug.

"I think you have enough faith for the both of us."

………………………………………………………………………………

Greg had to meet with Valerie Nichols before going into the courtroom. Nichols looked at him and shook his hand.

"How are you feeling?" asked Valerie.

"Tried, scared, and freaked out."

"Well, your girlfriend and the family of Demetrius James are pretty much the only non reporter people we have in the courtroom. I'm going to warn you, this isn't a trail, it's a circus and sadly it has all the good drama elements they want."

"Yeah white cop, black kid…all that's missing is a dead baby."

"Well at least you still have your humor about you. Is your girlfriend sure she wants to be here? I know you've seen and I've seen the crime scene photos and I'm a little worried about the jury in there, there was one guy who looked like a bleeding heart liberal who sees all cops as 'the man' and I tried to have him removed, but I was outvoted."

"She wants to be here."

"I heard from McKeen about her temper, do you think she can keep it in check?" asked Valerie.

"She promised on her father's grave that she would hold her tongue," said Greg.

"I hope she loves her father, she's going to be holding it a lot. We'll go over your testimony for tomorrow after we leave here at my office."

"Ok."

"Let's try to make this as painless as possible."

……………………………………………………………………………

Greg's mom was right, if it sounded like a duck than it was a duck and this sounded and looked like a trail to her. The courtroom sketch artist sat down next to her and started to rough sketch the courtroom, a reporter sat down next to the sketch artist and pulled out a notebook.

"So we're taking bets at the office, I think the jury is going to screw this guy over. It's almost election year and all the officials want that minority vote."

"Yeah I heard Trueblood is running next year, that should be a hoot," said the artist.

"You know what the hell was that guy thinking anyway? He's CSI; they work in a lab, if he wants to be a real cop try out for the force for god's sake." Jenna started chewing on her tongue.

_I'm going to put a hole into the way I've been biting it._ Greg and his ADA Valerie walked in and sat down. Greg turned around to Jenna and she gave him a small smile. The reporter looked back and forth between them and smiled.

"Young lady are you…"

"No comment." Greg turned back around to avoid getting Jenna in trouble and waited for Trueblood.

"All rise, court is now in session the Honorable Clayton Trueblood presiding." They stood up and an older man walked in from the back of the courtroom. "You may be seated."

"Before we begin, Pete Athens the head county coroner will explain what we hope to accomplish here today." Another man stood up and walked to the center of the courtroom.

"Hello I'm Pete Athens the coroner of Clark County and I would like to thank you all for being here. A coroner's inquest date back to medieval times…"

_Oh for fucks sake spare us the history lesson,_ thought Jenna watching the reporter scribble away. Trueblood started talking again.

"We are going to examine the death of Demetrius James. Assistant District Attorney Valerie Nichols will present the facts, introduce the witnesses and ask the questions. The jury can ask questions either in writing or oral. Now I understand that there are family members of the deceased present, will you raise your hands?"

Jenna turned around and across the aisle where the woman and boy from the hospital along with what she assumed to be his grandparents. She saw a look of sadness in Greg's eyes and started fiddling with her necklace. She hated that he felt guilty for what he had done, god that kid was going to kill someone and Greg stopped him.

"I'm very sorry for loss. And I want you to that as what the state calls interest of parties you may also ask questions as well."

_Do I get to get ask questions? Like what the hell was your child doing the streets beating a man to death? How do you sleep at night? I know I don't get any sleep; Greg doesn't get any sleep…what about you? _Jenna sighed and turned back to Trueblood.

"Than the jury will rule the death in question as justifiable, excusable or criminal, Mrs. Nichols will you call your first witness." Valerie stood up and fixed her jacket.

"We would like to call Detective Sofia Curtis to the stand." A clerk went and brought Sofia in and swore her in.

"Detective Curtis on the night of October 12th 2006, there was a rash of mob beatings happening in Vegas, just a few blocks from the Strip. Can you tell us about those attacks?" Nichols clicked on a video monitor and brought up a map showing where the first attack happened

"The first attack happened a little after midnight in the employee parking lot of the Golden Sapphire Hotel. A group of youths, between the ages of 14 to their early twenties attacked Vasco Ruiz while he was leaving his job. He was selected at random, according to one of the people involved." Nichols pulled up photos of the crime scene and Jenna was glad that she had only had tea and toast in her system. The poor guy didn't even look human anymore; his face looked like a thing of raw hamburger. Her brother Frankie had gone to school with some of the Ruiz's and the Hispanic community in Vegas had been shocked to hear what had happened to him, some of the woman from the Henderson shop had even raised money to help hold a funeral for him.

"Mr. Ruiz was found dead at the scene." Jenna let her eyes look over at the James family to see their reactions and saw the mother flinch slightly.

_Yeah your kid helped do that._

"About thirty minutes after the attack, the mob's next move was at the Holiday Motel where they attacked Jessica Hershbaum." Nichols clicked and the next slide was of Jessica covered in cuts, bruises and in a neck brace.

"Now Miss. Hershbaum survived?"

"She's alive," Sofia corrected. "But she has physical and emotional scars that she may never recover from."

"So when Mr. Sanders was coming to your crime scene, he would have been aware of these attacks?"

"Yes, CSI was still processing those crime scenes. And than I heard about another attack that night, the third in a row and that a CSI was one of the victims."

"Is this the location of the third attack?" Nichols pulled up the map.

"Yes. I drove over there immediately."

"And what did you find?"

"Three men, all seriously injured. Stanley Tanner was unconsciousness as was Demetrius James." Nichols kept clicking through the slides and it looked to Jenna like Demetrius James got off easy pain wise considering what happened to all the other victims.

"And CSI Sanders, the mob had pulled CSI Sanders from his vehicle and beaten him." Nichols clicked the slides and Jenna felt her eyes water up. She didn't even recognize Greg in that photo; she thought he looked bad when she saw him in the hospital

_My poor baby._

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg flinched in his seat when he saw the photos of himself. Jenna had refused to let him look in mirror after he got to the hospital, in all honest he didn't want to look at himself anyway. The last of the bruises had finally faded away last week and he realized he was lucky that he suffered no long term physical scars from the attack, unlike Jessica Hershbaum, and he wasn't dead like Ruiz.

_Or Demetrius James._

_Shut up._

"But it was his intervention that saved Stanley Tanner's life," said Sofia. The head juror wrote something down and handed it to a clerk who handed it to Trueblood. He skimmed it and balled it up.

"While I appreciate your participation in the case, I don't find this question relevant."

_Wait what question,_ thought Greg.

"Excuse me your Honor but her question is quite relevant," said a young man standing up. "Are we just going through the motions here to make it look likes somebody asked if it's ok to run down black kids in the street?"

_The bleeding heart liberal speaks._ Greg felt Jenna tense up behind him and he prayed that she really did love her father enough to keep her promise. He heard her sigh and mutter in Italian.

"Do you have a question?" snapped Trueblood.

"Yeah will you also be censoring verbal questions?"

"Relevance is key, now please be seated," said Trueblood. The juror sat down and the look he gave Greg was filled with loathing.

_God just give them the stones to throw already,_ thought Greg. Nichols called Stanley Tanner in. Greg felt a little bad that the guy had to come all the way back to Vegas and relive the worst night of his life all over again.

_He's probably like you, you relive it every night._ Jenna still was sleeping on the sofa to avoid him hitting her while he dreamed. He pushed her off the bed the night he asked her to marry him and she was lucky that her head missed the nightstand. Greg shifted in his seat and listened to Stanley testify about his injuries.

"Cuts, some of them pretty bad, mostly on my face. Broke left arm, crushed windpipe, one eye socket cracked, broke right ankle and I have this headache they tell me might permanent."

"So it's fair to say that while you were being attack you felt like your life was in danger?" asked Nichols.

"Hell ya."

"I have a question?" asked the juror from hell and Trueblood looked nervous.

"Go ahead."

"Did you actually see Demetrius James attacking you?"

"Hell I couldn't tell who was who, I had my hands on my face I was just trying to save alive. If Mr. Sanders hadn't have come when he did, I would have ended up like that first guy, dead!" He looked the evil juror in the eye as if daring him to ask another question and the juror backed down.

"Thank you Mr. Tanner you may step down," said Nichols. Stanley stepped down and before leaving the courtroom he gave Greg a firm pat on the shoulder.

_He's alive because of you._

_And Demetrius James is dead because of you, how does one life rank over another? You don't know who Stanley Tanner was before he came to Vegas. Maybe he hit his wife, maybe he stole, and maybe that ass kicking was Karma getting at him. You don't know who Demetrius James was, he was in college and maybe it was just a retarded heat of the moment thing._

_Oh yeah beating people up, robbing and killing them, that's heat of the moment for you. Back when you went to college wasn't a night of drinking and egging a house enough fun. No one suffered like this after that. _ Greg was snapped out of it by Nichols calling in the next witness.

"I would like to call Dr. Albert Robbins to the stand." Dr Robbins walked in and was sworn in.

"Dr. Robbins you preformed the autopsy on Demetrius James is that correct?"

"Yes, I did the autopsy."

"Can you tell me what you found in your final report?" Robbins clicked and a slide of a brain on a metal counter was shown.

"There was a large laceration where Demetrius James's head hit the ground, underlying that wound was a fracture of the bone that crosses at the base of the skull. The motion of the impact caused the brain to collide with the bone inside the skull, resulting in swelling of the brain and bleeding in the brain stem."

"So your official case of death was?"

"Blunt force trauma to the back of the head from motor vehicle collision," said Robbins.

"So this was a death at the hands of another?" asked the juror from hell  
"Yes," said Robbins calmly.  
"And what do you call that kind of death?" Robbins glared at the juror and sighed.  
"A homicide," He looked over at Greg trying to say he was sorry.

_Not your fault Doc, it's my own. If I was anyone else this would be a trail and I would be facing murder in the second degree for vehicular manslaughter. It's the CSI in front of my name that is covering my ass right now. _ Greg sighed and nodded at Robbins.

………………………………………………………………………………..

Jenna wanted that dickhead's head on a pike, what was his issue anyway.

_I would like to see your ass out there dealing with what Greg and the other CSI's do._ Jenna looked over at the reporter scribbling quickly and saw him scribble down…_A homicide_. She bit her tongue a little harder and hoped she didn't bite a hole in it. She never thought she would hate someone so much without speaking to them. _Yeah pikes for you and juror number two,_ thought Jenna shifting in her seat and twisting her necklace.

"We would like to call CSI Nick Stokes to the stand," said Nichols. Nick walked in and took the stand.

"Mr. Stokes you were called to process the scene at Casino Central Drive and Shane?"

"Yes Ma'am," said Nick. "Myself along with CSI Warrick Brown collected the evidence at that scene."

"Can you explain what you found at the scene to the jury?" Nick clicked the PowerPoint on and showed a bunch of broken glass on the ground.

"These glass fragments were from the mob breaking out CSI Sanders Denali that's how they dragged him out." He clicked to the next slide and Jenna had no idea what to make of it until Nick said. "This is a clump of his hair torn from the scalp."

_Little fucking assholes._

"And that's the rock Demetrius James used as a weapon."

"According to whom, this is the first we've heard of Demetrius James having a weapon," said the juror standing up.

_Wow I hope the dogs have fun looking for you, because I'm going to bury your ass in the desert. _

"In his report Mr. Sanders testified to that and the rock was found at the scene."

"How do we know the cops didn't plant it there?" he asked with a smug smile. Jenna started to dig her nails in to her hand and forced herself to remember that she had promised on her father's grave and that her outburst wouldn't do Greg any favors.

"I've warned you…" started Trueblood.

"I like to answer that question," said Nick giving the juror his own smug grin. "Normally when someone plants a weapon, the person who plants it places it by the body. The rock was found under the front tire of the Denali, skid marks suggest it was dropped upon impact."

"A rock, against three tons of steel," the juror shot back and the courtroom started to buzz.

"No more like one man against an extremely violent out of control mob."

_Thank you Nick Stokes._

"What's department policy in situation like that?"

"It has always been department policy to not harm innocent civilians. You call for back up, you try to be a good witness and you stay out of the way."

_Well he wasn't an innocent civilian, he was a criminal, why are we here again?_

"So what makes it ok to start running people over?"

"Well when those people are wearing masks running around beating people up," snapped Nick.

"Man, DJ was going to a costume party," said a voice. Jenna looked over to see the brother of Demetrius James.

_Oh really, God were they playing a game I've never heard it. What's it called: Beat the tourist till it bleeds?_

"One victim was dead, another seriously injured, another one fatality immanent. I say the use of deadly force was in the lines of department policy." Jenna say Greg nod his head at Nick and she hoped that Nick had finally been able to get Greg to understand what she had been telling him for weeks, that it wasn't his fault.

"Demetrius James was going to finish off the victim with the rock…" Nichols was cut off.

"YOU'RE A LAIR!"

"MY BROTHER WASN'T A KILLER!" Jenna looked across the aisle to see both the mother and son up and yelling.

"Excuse me…"

"Demetrius was going to college…"

_Kudos to him. Hitler and the Nazis went to college didn't make them good people._

"He had a 3.6 GPA," she went on.

_And Ted Bundy got into law school and he was a great guy._

"We are all very sorry for your loss, but you are not a witness here," said Nichols trying to stay clam and Nick looked horrified by what was going on.

"YOU DIDN'T KNOW HIM!" She screamed.

"DJ HAD A FUTURE!" screamed the brother.

_Because beating up tourist is such a growing market._

"I KNEW HIM! WE KNEW!" She carried on. Nichols turned to Trueblood pleaded.

"Can we have some order?"

"YOU DIDN'T RUN OVER A MOB YOU RAN OVER ONE BOY! MY BOY!" she broke down sobbing and Jenna saw Greg shifting in his seat looking like he wanted to run and Jenna couldn't have agreed with him more. Nichols looked desperate and addressed Trueblood again.

"Judge?"

"Mrs. James comments give context to the night in question and I would like to hear what she has to say." Nichols threw a pen down and threw herself into a seat; Greg leaned over to her and hissed.

"Why is Trueblood letting her do this?" She sighed.

"It's good for his camping, he's running for assembly."

"Oh now you tell me," muttered Greg leaning back in his chair.

"Told you they we're gonna hang the guy out to dry," muttered the reporter to the artist and Jenna dug her nails in a little deeper.

_I promised on my father's grave and Greg has no idea how lucky he is I promised on that to keep my mouth shut, if it wasn't for that I would have been hauled out of here ages ago._ Nick was dismissed and he got off the stand.

"Sorry G," he muttered as he walked out.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Trueblood told the jury that what Marla and Aaron said was not evidence and they were not sworn witness and that should not factor in to what they decide on the case.

_Oh sure like that's gonna happen,_ thought Greg as the family walked to the front of the courtroom.

"My sons didn't grow up with a father, barely had a mother on account of me working so much. They got into trouble, mostly because of where we lived. Aaron here he got into a whole mess of trouble."

"And I did my time too, I did my time." Greg could feel Jenna wanting to say something smartass and was glad when she sighed and he heard her start biting a nail. "But that wasn't DJ, he was helping me turn my life around, coached me on my GED and he…he made me feel like there was a chance for me, you know." Aaron James looked Greg in eye and pointed at him. "Man you have no idea what you killed when you killed my brother."

"My son was a good person and was going places and he had his whole life in front of him. He wanted to give back to the community we grew up in, stop the kids in the neighborhood from joining gangs and living on the streets, I loved my baby and now all I of him is a stone." She started crying again and Trueblood told them to go sit down and Greg felt the world sinking in on him.

_Maybe he was just being a dumb kid, a really dumb kid. He just was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He really didn't a fair shake at life if you think about it, no parents around and a neighborhood full a street gangs did he really have a chance to get his life going and out of there? Yeah I know what I killed, I really do._

"Court is going into recess until nine am tomorrow and after we hear testimony from Mr. Sanders the case will go to the jury," Trueblood dismissed everyone and people started to leave.

"Excuse me…" started the reporter leaning over the artist.

"Get out of my face before I removed your balls and shove them down your throat," snapped Jenna at the reporter.

"Jen," said Greg in a warning tone.

"How did the testimony today make you feel?"

"Like a ray of fucking sunshine," said Jenna. Greg took her hand.

"No comment," he said and he took her hand and pulled her away.

"I was good," said Jenna giving his hand a squeeze.

"Yeah," he had to admit she kept her promise despite everything that had happened in there today. They moved through the reporters ignoring the calls for questions. Sofia walked towards them and said hello.

"Nichols was right this isn't a trail it's cirrus," said Greg.

"I heard, staring the mother," said Sofia.

"I thought it wasn't a trail, or so we were told at the beginning," said Jenna.

"Never trust a word that comes out of the mouth of someone running for office," said Sofia. Greg looked back at Marla and Aaron talking to a camera crew.

"I feel like I should say something." Jenna's jaw dropped and Sofia's eyes got wide.

"Like what?" asked Sofia

"I don't know."

"Sorry." Sofia almost laughed. "You're going to apologize to the mother of a guy who beat one man to death and was trying to do the same to you. You did nothing wrong."

"I've been telling him that for weeks," muttered Jenna. Greg sighed.

"I just want to be able to sleep again."

"We put ourselves in harm's way everyday and sometimes we pay a hell of a price for surviving. Other people will never understand that." Greg felt Jenna's hand tighten in his after Sofia said that.

"We're gonna get out of here before they find out where we parked the car," said Greg.

"I'll see you later," said Sofia leaving the courthouse. Greg and Jenna took a back exit out and were thankful that the reporters hadn't found the car and they were able to get home without fighting with a reporter.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jenna sat back on the bench and listened to the family of Demetrius James sing their sob story and thought about her own up-bring in Vegas.

"My sons didn't grow up with a father, barely had a mother on account of me working so much."

Her father had died before she was born and when Frankie was five, so they grew up without a father. Her mother had to run her own business and worked insane hours with their grandmother. When they were small, their mother had put them in a small corner to watch them during the summers.

When they got older, but not old enough to work with her, during the school years they were latch key kids who looked out for themselves, they would get themselves off to school and back home with out an adult. Clarissa or their grandmother Sophia would try to get home to have dinner with them, but some nights they were so back logged they missed dinner and her and Frankie would eat Cheerios for dinner. Hell some nights that was all they had in the house was cereal because they were broke and food stamps only went so far, when Jenna was five, the government aid went away, they told her mother she made too much money at 19,000 a year.

"They got into trouble, mostly because of where we lived," said Marla.

The neighborhood wasn't always the greatest when she was younger, the wanna be Mexican Cholos hung out on the block and Frankie made the mistake of spray painting a garage with them one day and when he got busted, Clarissa beat his ass with the first kitchen tool she got her hands on and she made it clear that she didn't work herself to death to be raising a gang banger, if wanted a bullet in his head so damn bad so would buy a gun and put one in his head herself and save the Cholos or a rival gang the trouble.

Grandma Sophia went outside and told the six punks to get off her block and she used a frying pan to make her point. Frankie went to school with a black eye; he was made to repaint the garage he messed up and graduated in the top ten of his class when he was done with school. That happened when she was eleven and she learned to never ever piss those two women off, they put the fear of the God into her that day.

She messed up once when she was fifteen and got caught smoking a cigarette with Ofilia and some other kids. Her mother beat her ass with a wooden spoon and yelled at her in a combo of Spanish and Italian that she wasn't raising a smoker and Jenna had better pray that she was never caught with any real drugs.

_My mom wasn't always there, we didn't grow up in the best place either, but you don't see me and Frankie beating people up and killing them. _

"I did my time too, I did my time," said Aaron James and Jenna was reminded of Chris Rock and his bit about how some ignorant black people were proud of the dumbest shit.

"_Your not suppose to go to jail, you low expectation have mother fucker,"_ said Chris Rock and Jenna wanted to call out. "You're supposed to serve your time, dumbass!" She knew that was the last thing Greg needed and she started biting her nails again.

"Man you have no idea what you killed when you killed my brother." Jenna almost lost it with that remark.

_You brother killed someone, does he know what he killed when he Ruiz? He had two little boys that don't have a father now. Does that make it ok for them to go out and beat people up in the street?_

Nothing pissed Jenna off more than people who used the excuse that a bad upbringing turned them into bad people. You have choices in life, everyone did. Ofilia had a hard upbringing with her drunken dad and getting pregnant and a single mom at seventeen, but she didn't let that tie her down. She rose above it, went to school and she made it point to give Millia the life she didn't have. She really hated that the James family was playing the minority card, being part Mexican herself Jenna had dealt with the assholes who told her to go back home, even though she was born here and this was her home. But, she didn't use it has an excuse for things that went wrong in her life and she didn't let them drag her down.

"My son was a good person and was going places and he had his whole life in front of him. He wanted to give back to the community we grew up in, stop the kids in the neighborhood from joining gangs and living on the streets, I loved my baby and now all I of him is a stone," said Marla.

_I really hope your son is sitting in the afterlife and is watching all the people he's made cry, including me and you Marla. _ Trueblood called it day and Jenna felt her neck finally start too un-tense and than she heard the reporter speak to her.

"Get out of my face before I removed your balls and shove them down your throat," she told him. _Quote that asshole_

"Jen," said Greg in a warning tone. She knew he didn't need her fighting with a reporter right now, but she was pissed off.

"How did the testimony today make you feel?" asked the reporter

"Like a ray of fucking sunshine," said Jenna. Greg took her hand.

"No comment," he said and he took her hand and pulled her away.

"I was good," said Jenna giving his hand a squeeze. _You're lucky it's you and that I love you so much._ Jenna wanted to go home, get out of this skirt and heels and eat some Ben and Jerry's. Sofia stopped them in the hall and greeted them; Greg looked defeated when he spoke.

"Nichols was right this isn't a trail it's cirrus," said Greg.

"I heard, staring the mother," said Sofia.

"I thought it wasn't a trail, or so we were told at the beginning," said Jenna recalling the chat Greg's higher ups had given them.

"Never trust a word that comes out of the mouth of someone running for office," said Sofia. Greg looked back at Marla and Aaron talking to a camera crew.

"I feel like I should say something." Jenna's jaw dropped, why should he feel bad about what happened. _Oh god he didn't buy that sob story did he?_

"Like what?" asked Sofia

"I don't know."

"Sorry." Jenna saw the look in his eyes and she couldn't believe he bought that overwhelming story of bullshit. Sofia almost laughed. "You're going to apologize to the mother of a guy who beat one man to death and was trying to do the same to you. You did nothing wrong."

"I've been telling him that for weeks," muttered Jenna, thankful that Sofia was on her side and Greg's.

"I just want to be able to sleep again."

"We put ourselves in harm's way everyday and sometimes we pay a hell of a price for surviving. Other people will never understand that." _What kind of backhanded bitch slap remark was that? I think I have a good idea lady, you're not the one walking up when he has nightmares, dealing with the crank calls at home and work and well everything. _ Because she had been doing it all day, she held her tongue, but squeezed Greg's hand a little harder than needed.

"We're gonna get out of here before they find out where we parked the car," said Greg.

"I'll see you later," said Sofia leaving the courthouse. Jenna was happy that they found a back exit out of the courthouse and she was also happy that she wasn't missing a piece of her tongue from biting it all day. She looked over at Greg in the passenger seat and wanted to shake some sense into him.

_I just don't know how. _

Notes-Sorry this took awhile I wanted to be sure I had the dialogue from the episode Post Mortem right, plus I messed up a nerve in my right hand and I had to stop playing on the computer at home, or else I would really screw up my hand.


	11. Give and take

Give and take

Greg knew she pissed the second they got in the door, she threw her purse on the sofa, slammed the door to the bathroom, threw her shoes in the closet and slammed herself down the sofa and started petting Gabriel.

"What!" he didn't mean to snap at her but he was really tired and not in the mood, he still had to talk with Nichols later on this afternoon about his turn on the stand tomorrow.

"Why should you be sorry for them? Are they sorry for Ruiz, or Jessica, or Stanley? No, I don't think so, so why should you be sorry. He was going to kill you or Stanley and you stopped him. I know you're tired of me nagging you on this but…" he cut her off.

"You're right I'm tired of your nagging." He regretted the words the second they left his mouth and what he said really got her going.

"I can't you believe you bought that sob story in there. 'Oh boo hoo my babies didn't have a daddy and I worked all the time and that's what made them this way!' If that's the case than I'm calling Millia and telling her she has a get out of jail free card and I guess that means Frankie and I missed out on a lifetime of being criminals and god that means everyone who's had a semi-shitty upbringing can't be held accountable for their actions. Come on Greg, they can't face the fact that someone in their family took another life and it's easier to blame you than face it."

Deep down he knew she was right, but he could be just as stubborn as she was and he still felt guilty about what happened in that alley almost two months ago. It was easier to walk away than to fight with her, walking away meant he didn't have to answer to her or deal with what he thought.

"You know what, I'm not in the mood for this right now, and I have to go meet Nichols."

"Fine!" She went into the bathroom and slammed the door and Greg heard her crying a little. He sighed and left the apartment.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"So how bad does it look and be honest with me?" Greg asked Nichols after they went over his testimony for tomorrow morning, they had been going over it for about three hours and she was impressed that he stayed calm, despite everything going on. She sighed and got out two bottles of water from her mini fridge.

"To be honest I don't know. Trueblood letting the James family speak like that threw me and that skinny little prick of a juror is real thorn in the side. But I have a feeling that between your testimony and the computer reenactment that Brown and Stokes gave me right before you got here it should help you get a justifiable."

"What happens if they rule criminal?" asked Greg.

"Greg…"

"You haven't seen the looks the jury has been giving me and it's a little hard to ignore that the court of public opinions as me tagged as a murderer. So worst case scenario, they find criminal what happens?" The thought of them finding criminal had been nagging Greg all day, ever since the head juror handed Trueblood the unread question he had a sinking feeling that they were going to send him to Carson City if they got the chance. Nichols sighed and looked him in the eye.

"You would be arrested for murder, second degree. You would be fired from the LVPD and the lab, depending on how much bail…if they allow bail; you'll be sitting in county lock up till the case goes to court. I don't know who would be the ADA in your case, but everything presented here could be used against you and you could spend up to thirty years in jail and without getting parole…ten maybe fifteen if you behave yourself and get parole." Greg nodded grimly.

"Thanks."

"You asked for the worst case scenario, don't shoot the messenger," said Nichols.

"I know I just wanted to know what I had to look forward too."

"They are not going to find you criminal Greg, if they do I will quit my job here and defend you at trial, because honestly Mr. Sanders you got handed a raw deal and this is politics trying to make the city look better and you got put in the middle. They can act all high and mighty in there, but they wouldn't have the guts to save another life at the risk of there own." Greg shrugged, he had heard from others that Nichols was a bitch, but he couldn't help but really like her right now.

"Do we want to go over this again?" asked Greg.

"Nah, I think we're good, go home, get some rest, you'll need it for tomorrow." Greg shifted in his seat, going home meant dealing with Jenna and their fight. Nichols eyed him.

"I take it your girlfriend let her temper go after we left court this afternoon. I'm amazed she kept it together in there, I was about ready to tear heads off, and I can only imagine how she felt."

"Yeah, she said some stuff that made some sense and I didn't like what she said so I said some stuff that was just plain mean," said Greg.

"Look, go home spend some time with her, enjoy the company of someone who's on your side and not your lawyer or a co-worker. Besides in the very slim chance they find criminal do you really want to spend the rest of your time here?" Greg nodded and left Nichols office, he really did want to be home.

_It could be the last time you're allowed to go home, if they find you criminal you won't get to see her outside of a jail cell for years. Go home, be nice and enjoy the company of your soon to be wife…they allow you to get married in prison right? _He stepped on the gas and drove home a little faster.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna was making tacos when she heard knocking on the door, she wasn't expecting anyone and she had a feeling it was Greg, he must of have thought she would put the chain on and lock him out. Somehow that pissed her off even more than she already was.

"Damn it Greg I know I'm a nagging bitch, but I wouldn't lock your ass out of your own apartment." She went to the door calling that out and she opened it and found Nick standing there and he looked a little sheepish.

"Having a fight with Greggo?" asked Nick stepping inside, Jenna rolled her eyes, shut the door and went back to the kitchen.

"If you call me screaming, him screaming and then leaving and me crying like a five year old a fight…yeah I say we had a fight. "She turned back to the tomato she was cutting and kept ranting. "I just don't understand how he can feel guilty for what happened in that alley? He saved someone's life and who knows how many more if DJ had continued on his crime spree and he refuses to see that and he even bought the 'poor us we're minorities and we didn't get a chance' story and well that pisses me off even more, the last time I checked I was part minority and it's…bullshit…plain and simple…and ow," she cut her finger with the knife and was bleeding. "Fuck." She started running it under some water to see how bad the cut was. Nick went into the bathroom and found the Band-Aids and anti-bacterial cream.

"Here let me see, damn you got it good. Hold still." She had cut herself from the fingertip to where her finger bent. Nick helped her get the Band-Aid on and he gave her a look.

"You know you shouldn't hold so much in, it's bad for you." She just rolled her eyes again.

"Well it's for Greg that I held it in and yeah I feel really pissy because of it."

"Do you know when he'll be back, I wanted to give him some good news and say I'm sorry for what happened in there today."

"He went to go talk to Nichols and I don't know when he'll be back and what happened wasn't your fault. Hell part of me wants to hug you for expressing part of what I've been feeling for weeks and I almost think you got through to Greg about this not being his fault. I've been trying for weeks, may as well be talking to a brick wall." She took the finished taco meat and put it in a container and put the other finished stuff in a container. "This is sort of a peace offering meal, I'm just tired Nick and yeah, I'm really tired of fighting with him and sleeping on the sofa and…"

"You're sleeping on the sofa?" asked Nick raising an eyebrow.

"Greg still has nightmares and when I have slept in the bed I've almost gotten clocked for waking him up and I got pushed out the bed last week, because I slept through one of them…so we just agreed for safety sakes I got the sofa. You won't tell anyone I told you?"

"Nah is Greggo still seeing the head doctor about the nightmares?" asked Nick, recalling how bad his nightmares were after his ordeal being buried alive.

"He ran out of worker's comp for that, I offered to foot the bill, but he wouldn't take the offer. What it is about a woman earning a little more than a man that freaks them out and refuse their help?"

"You earn a lot more than Greggo."

"I spent years living in poverty and I can't count how many times the family came close to losing the business, the past few years have just been really good and I invested wisely. I just, wish he wouldn't shut me out, or at least hear me out when I try to talk to him about what happened," said Jenna.

"Just be there, it means more than you think it does. I'll talk to Greg later on, try to have a good night," said Nick showing himself out. Jenna tossed the pans in the sink and laid down on the sofa, she was tired from not sleeping last night. She took the pillow she had left there from last night and she soon found herself falling asleep trying to watch Family Guy.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

Greg walked into the apartment an hour after Nick left and was greeted by the smell of taco seasoning and looked over to see that Jenna was sleeping on the couch. She had changed from her court outfit to pj pants and a tank top, her hair was down and was all over the place and in her face. She was drooling on the pillow and had one arm and leg dangling over the edge. _She's cute and she's not even trying._ He grinned a little and sat down the bag of Ben and Jerry's and went to wake her up.

"Hey drool monster wake up," he got the hair out of her mouth and away from her face.

"Huh," she muttered and wiped the corner of her mouth. "What? What time is it?"

"A little before eight…did you make tacos? Is it a peace offering?" She nodded.

"I think for right now…let's just agree to disagree ok." Greg kissed her forehead.

"Can you warm us up some and I'll get out of this monkey suit." She nodded and went to warm up dinner and Greg headed to the bedroom and tossed his suit into a bag for dry cleaning. He decided that if this was the last night he was going to spend at home, he was going to enjoy his time with Jenna and not fight with her. He changed into a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt and went back into the living room. He got the bag of Ben and Jerry's and placed it in the freezer and took the plate Jenna had warmed up for him.

"Thank you," He took his plate into the living room and sat down. "So what's on TV?" He flipped through the on screen menu and grinned. "Hey it's the best of Will Ferrell." Greg turned it on and Jenna sat down next to him and started eating her taco.

"Guys I need more cowbell," said Jenna deadpan and Greg nearly choked on his taco.

"I think I saw Hodges dancing like that one day with a test tube and a drum stick."

"Wow, is he as hairy and beer bellied as Ferrell?" asked Jenna.

"Baby I'm trying to eat and I don't want to think of Hodges's body." Jenna laughed and grinned at Greg.

"I'll the Jap anus relations for two hundred!" declared Sean Connery during Celebrity Jeopardy.

"I have always wanted to someday go on Jeopardy and answer the final question 'Who is your mother Trebek?'" said Greg.

"Why would you do that? Your mother would kill you."

"I would make it point to get such a lead that no one could catch up with me and than I wouldn't bet anything, I would just put that down."

"God you are a dork, I just honestly didn't realize how much of a dork you were until just now," said Jenna. The two finished dinner and a pint of Ben and Jerry's, after that Greg went and laid down behind Jenna on the sofa and wrapped his arms around her waist. They chatted, nothing about court, work or the inquest. Jenna asked him how he felt about going to look at rings some time next week, she knew a guy who would give them a great deal and he agreed to go with her. He shifted on the sofa and tried to get comfortable. He honestly didn't know how she had slept here all these weeks, it was uncomfortable. He felt her starting to doze off and he poked her a little.

"How do you sleep on this thing, it's all lumpy?"

"I have it broke in where I want it to be, so it's really easy, watch." She was dozing off again when he started kissing on her neck.

"Come to bed with me," he felt her stiffen a little; she was still a little scared about sleeping through one of his nightmares again. "Please Jen, I promise it will be ok." He moved his hands under her top and started nibbling on her shoulders. "I miss you and I'm sorry, I just want things normal again." She got off the sofa and gave him a small smile.

"Lead the way."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg didn't go to sleep that night; he stayed awake just watching her sleep. His mind was terrified that it could be the last time he got to be with Jenna like this and the last thing he wanted to do was chase her out of here with a nightmare. Greg thought back on what he had with her and realized that despite the years they had spent apart, the past couple of weeks being shit and what seemed like never ending fights lately he loved her. She had been his best friend first and foremost and he realized that he was lucky she was his friend first; it was those years as his friend that gave her the patience to deal with him now. She rolled over so her back was to him and Greg pulled her close to him and listened to breathe.

He thought back on all the times they had spent together and how often they had been intimate with each other and wished he had enjoyed it a little more. He thought back to something Jenna had told him years ago when they had first started dating and they were lying on the floor of her apartment after sex.

"_What do you want from a relationship?" she asked him. Greg yawned, he was tried from everything that had happened that day, from breaking up with Dana to fighting with Jenna to getting together with her all within the span of less than twenty four hours._

"_Sleep." She poked him._

"_No, no sleep for you."_

"_What are you the sleep Nazi?" She propped herself up on his chest and looked him in the eyes grinning._

"_Yep that's me, you wouldn't let me eat when I wanted to and now I'm not letting you sleep until you answer my question." _

"_What do you want?" asked Greg. _

"_It's not fair to turn my question around on me." Greg grinned at her._

"_Give me a second to think and I'll answer your question." She bit her lip and thought._

"_Someone who can give and take," said Jenna. Greg gave her a puzzled look. _

"_What's that mean?"_

"_Well, when I was with Andy it was always what he wanted, never what I wanted. It was always take, take, take from him and I was always give, give, give. And so I decided after that no more, if I was suppose to give I had the right to take also and visa versa from who I was with, so far you seem very good at the give and take." He just grinned at her._

"_Really?"_

"_Well so far you've been very good at that." She kissed him and Greg broke away slowly. _

"_If you let me sleep, I'll let you eat." _

"_Sounds good."_

They had always had a good give and take relationship until a few months ago, he had been kind of a jerk with her and he was sorry for that. He kissed her check and finally dozed off an hour before the alarm was set to go off.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg yawned and Jenna took his hand before they went into the courthouse.

"Greg, I know you're tired of me nagging, but I just want you to know that those people in there don't know you like I do, what they say or think doesn't matter. I love you, your parents love you and I'm sure that deep down maybe even Hodges loves you."

"Please never say that Hodges loves me again, I think I'm going to be sick with that thought." She kissed his check.

"Well I love you and that's all that matters." They walked into the courthouse and Greg went to use the bathroom. He got some cold water running and splashed it on his face.

_Relax, she right and I can get through this, I need to get though this for her. She gave and now I need to give her something back._ Greg looked up and saw Aaron James glaring at him.

"How tough you feel when you're not in your big SUV huh?"

_Not tough at all…actually I feel like shit about everything in my life right now, expect for the one person who has bent over backwards for me._

"I asked you a question killer?" He got closer to Greg and he turned around to face him. The young man just gave him a look of pure hatred and Greg just wished that whatever he wanted to do he would just get it over with already.

"Excuse me?" said a man who got between them to use the sink. Aaron James just gave him a look that told Greg how lucky he really was that someone stepped in.

_You almost bought what Jen was telling you that we were going to get through this._

_Shut up._

_It's not going to be as easy as she made it seem._ Greg sighed and got ready to go into the courtroom.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" asked Trueblood.

"I do," said Greg and he took his seat and Nichols approached him and brought up on a screen the transcript of what happened that night.

"Alright let's take a look at the official transcript of your call to backup. Oh one and fifty four and twenty one seconds control answers can you please read your response?"

"Control, Control this is CSI Sanders I need some help."

"You took a couple of seconds look at the street signs and after a few more exchanges control tells you that the closest unit has a five minute ETA. Five minutes, control continues 'Rolling code three are they armed?' Please read your response?"

"I don't know! I don't know. Ma'am please listen, you have to get here quicker than this."

"What did you do?" asked Nichols. Greg took a deep breath and tried to not remember the panic he felt or the fear.

"I thought I try to break up the mob, so I turned into the alley. I honked the horn, yelled, I did anything I thought would scare them away."

"Did that stop the beating?"

"No, one guy decided not to run away. Instead he picked up a rock and moved like he was going to finish the victim, but instead he started to come at me with it."

"Oh come on that's just his word! His word against my brother's!" yelled Aaron James standing up.

"Mr. James," said Nichols warning, Jenna looked over and glared at him and Greg knew that if given a chance she would kill Aaron James and that this needed to end now for everyone here.

"You know we can't get his side of the story!" said Aaron. Nichols just threw her hands up.

"Alright, your Honor!"

"Mrs. Nichols the man has the right to speak."

_Didn't he get that right yesterday while you and Jenna had been quite and take all the shit?_ Aaron sat down and Nichols went back to questioning him.

"Now at this point, did you fear for your life?" _I was scared that I wouldn't see Jenna again._

"Yes."

"Did you have a weapon? A gun?"  
"No."

"What were thinking when DJ left Stanley Tanner's beaten body and came at you with that rock." _Oh my god he's going to throw that at me…OHMYGODWHATTHEFUCKISHEDOING!!! STOP HIM!_

"I thought that he was going to make me his next target, thought he wanted to kill me and I knew that no matter what I had to stop him." Nichols looked at the jury.

"Now it's taken us several minutes to recreate that night and I'm pretty sure you've all formed your own opinions, but let's put ourselves in Mr. Sanders's position. Let's see how long Greg had to save a man's life."

Nichols clicked on the animated drawing from the SUV's OnStar. It made everything look so simple and clear cut. It even had a little timer at the corner of the screen, two point two seconds. That was how long everything took.

_Sure as hell didn't feel like two seconds._

"Seconds, mere seconds. What would you have done? Mr. Sanders was it your intention to kill Demetrius James?"

"No. I wish he hadn't come at me." He looked over at Marla and Aaron James. "I wish that he had just run away." _There that's as close to saying I'm sorry as I'm going to get._ Nichols sat down and Trueblood spoke up.

"Mr. Sanders aren't you leaving something out?"

"I don't think so." Trueblood started flipping through a folder.

"You testified at a criminal trial earlier that day didn't you?" _Wow doesn't that feel like forever ago._

"Yes."

"ADA Ellrick must have been pleased with your testimony; she bought you dinner at the Tillerman's. I'm looking at a copy of her credit card receipt." _Where the hell is this going?_ He looked at Nichols who looked disgusted and Jenna who looked confused as hell.

"How was the sea bass and the bottle of Pinot Grigio: Santa Margarita 2005? How was that?" asked Trueblood. The court room started buzzing, the prick juror looked smug and Nichols and Jenna looked ready to tear heads off.

"Your Honor!" snapped Nichols getting up. Greg felt himself start to stammer.

"I…I wasn't on shift and I only had…"

"Mr. Sanders I'm sure the jury is wondering 'If you hadn't been drinking, would Demetrius James still be alive?'" _Bastard, that's what he is…this is about his career not your life,_ he looked out and saw Jenna just blinking in shock, _or that of your soon to be family. Put the fucker in his place. Think Greg, we had six ounces do the math._ Greg closed his eyes to block out the buzzing and thought.

"Alcohol wasn't a factor. ADA Ellrick insisted on buying the wine. I had half a glass, about six ounces. At my weight 150 that would give me a blood alcohol content of point zero two percent. Even without food the alcohol burn off rate would be point zero one five percent per hour meaning that there was no alcohol in my system after ninety minutes well before I reported for my shift and about seven hours before the incident." Greg glared at both Trueblood and the juror from hell; both looked a little less smug. He looked over a Jenna who gave him the smallest of grins, he could almost hear her thoughts.

_Oh yeah in your face fuckers!!!!!_

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"If I kill Trueblood and that little prick that has let this small amount of civic power go to his head, will you help me cover up the crime?" asked Jenna. They were sitting in Nichols office waiting for the jury to come back with a decision, Nichols grinned.

"I'll put it at the bottom of my pile." She looked over at Greg who shrugged.

"Just doing while day shift is in charge and you'll get away with it." Jenna poked him.

"If you love me, you'll help me move the bodies."

"I'm sure we can find a good dumping site," said Greg.

"I just can't believe that Trueblood would stoop so low to screw someone over. That math was pretty impressive Sanders, do you do that to figure out who is going to be the designated driver?" asked Nichols.

"I learned it forever ago, it just came in handy today," said Greg.

"And yet this is the same guy who has trouble with a checkbook and a loan interest rate," said Jenna.

"That's money math and it sucks." Jenna just rolled her eyes. A clerk knocked on the door and poke their head in.

"Mrs. Nichols the jury is back."

"It's only been an hour…is that good?" asked Jenna.

"We'll see." Jenna gripped his hand and gave it a squeeze and they went back to the courtroom.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"No matter what they rule, I think you did one hell of a good job," said Nichols when everyone was seated.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The head juror stood up and opened a piece of paper.

"We have your Honor. We, the jury in this inquest find the death of Demetrius James excusable." She sat back down and the court muttered a little and Pete Athens dismissed everyone. Nichols looked a little disgusted.

"Excusable no no no, the excusable is a lawful act with no intention to harm. Justifiable means the action was the only alternative. That's what they should have found."

"It's ok; I think they may have it right." Greg felt Jenna's hand touch his shoulder and he could smell it, sugar and vanilla, he sighed, just relived that this was over.

"Let's get out of here. Mrs. Nichols, I wish we could have met under better terms, but thank you for everything," said Jenna taking Nichols hand and shaking it.

"Hopeful if we do meet again I hope it's not because of you burying a body in the desert," said Nichols. She left the courtroom and Greg and Jenna had to fight their way through the mob in the halls. They had to leave through the front door today and Greg heard bits and pieces of what everyone was saying to the camera. Greg intertwined his fingers with her and they started to walk through the crowd. Hoping no one would notice them.

"Look I have nothing against Mr. Sanders personally; it's just that all these inquests seem to do is protect the cops," said the juror from hell. Greg felt Jenna's hand tighten in his.

"Down girl."

"But…alright you never let me have any fun. I was just gonna hit upside that head, it was going to be a love tap really." Greg shook his head and they kept walking.

"Has I have emphasized during my campaign…"

_Asshole_

"No it's not over; we're going to get justice for Demetrius!" Greg felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he walked past the James family and he gripped her hand tighter.

"It's gonna be alright," said Jenna, they were almost to the car when a reporter and camera were shoved without warning in their faces.

"Mr. Sanders. Mr. Sanders, do you think the verdict was fair? Was your killing Demetrius James excusable?" Greg started to stammer and he felt someone throw an arm around him and pull him into half a bear hug. It was Stanley Tanner.

"This kid saved my damn life, he is a hero! A genuine hero!" Greg gave a sort of smile and he felt Jenna pull on his hand.

"Let's get out of here." He started to walk away again and the cameras followed cat calling out. Greg sighed and turned around.

"We're just happy it's over." That sent the reporters scrambling and got them even more cat calls for questions which they ignored.

"I never want to see a camera again," muttered Jenna.

"That makes two of us. I have to go and report in and see if they need anything at work," said Greg

"That's ok; I should see how the temps are doing. You'll pick me up from work?"

"Yeah." Jenna threw her arms around Greg in a hug before getting in the car.

"Remember what they think doesn't matter. I'm proud of you and I think you're a hero." She got in the car and they left the court house.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Millia, Julia and Megan were reenacting the scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Harry was found not guilty of breaking wizard laws. The three of them were jumping and dancing around the kitchen chanting at the top of their lungs.

"He got off! He got off! He got off!" Ofilia just rolled her eyes.

"Any moron in the world could see what he did was self defense. Well at least things may get back to normal around here, no more annoying reporters calling or coming in and being asshats."

"I hope so, I just want our lives to go back to normal and I want the word to go out that anyone who votes for Trueblood will no longer get service from this bakery," said Jenna.

"Oh like anyone we know would vote for that stuffed shirt asshole," said Ofilia.

"HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF!"

"GET BACK TO WORK!" screamed Jenna and Ofilia at the same time. The girls looked sad and went back to work. Jenna and Ofilia went upstairs to talk about the end of the month totals when Jenna got a little dizzy and almost fell up the stairs.

"Hey you alright?" asked Ofilia.

"Yeah, I didn't eat breakfast and now I'm paying for it, my head has been hurting all day."

"You work with food and yet you miss meals, go upstairs and I'll get you a bagel and coffee." Jenna went upstairs and shook the fuzzies from her head and started looking for something to kill the pain in her brain.

_Everything is going to be fine it's over._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"This new miniature was freaky, the killer even took it back when it didn't match the scene," said Mandy. Greg had stopped by the break room to see how everyone was and what was new in the lab.

"No one said that crazy people made sense," said Hodges he looked over at Greg. "Nice suit Sanders, I didn't realize how well you cleaned up."

"Kiss my ass Hodges." Wendy shook her head.

"And we're back. If you two are finished, I have reports to write up." Wendy and Mandy left the break room and Hodges went to follow.

"What you did was a good thing and you represented the lab well Sanders," said Hodges taking his coffee and leaving.

_God this day needs to end._ Greg went to see Grissom and found that he and Sara were both looking over the newest miniature; it was freaky and cool looking all at the same time.

"Hey boss, if you don't need me for anything I'm gonna take off," said Greg. Grissom eyed him.

"Yeah and take off that suit too." _Grissom joking is a scary sight_. Greg went to leave and Grissom called out. "And Greg, you did a good job." _Yeah I'm gonna go home and drink now because the nice, slightly cheerful Grissom is a little scary and I need a drink after this shit._ _After working here nearly seven years, he's showing you a little respect…yeah that is freaky._

"I'm glad you think so." Greg left the lab and headed out to the parking garage. _Let's just get Jenna and go home._ He dug out his keys, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a car turn on; behind the driver's seat was Aaron James. Greg let his shoulders slump in defeat and Aaron started revering up the engine.

_God damn what the fuck do you want from me?!?!_ Greg heard footsteps from behind him and a man was reaching into his jacket pocket for something. Greg was frozen. _Getting shot or hit by a car…wonder which is worse._ The man reached him and pulled out a sheet of thick papers.

"Mr. Sanders you've been served." _What._ The guy walked away and Greg opened up the papers.

_District Court_

_Clark County, Nevada_

_Complaint for Wrongful Death_

_The Estate of Demetrius James. Plaintiff vs. Greg Sanders and DOES 1 though 50, inclusive and each of them, Defendants. _

"Fucking Christ," muttered Greg and he looked up at Aaron James who hit the gas and came at him. Greg moved out the way and the car missed him by inches. _God damn it what do you want from me?!_ Greg got in his car and threw the papers in his glove box. Suing! They were suing him now?

Christ hadn't they had enough, didn't they never want to see him again, I know if they shoe was on the other foot I would never want to see me again. God damn! He dug them out and looked over them again to be sure he read it right. Three point five million!!! That's how much their family member was worth? That's how much all the suffering was worth, three and half million dollars. Greg shoved them back into the glove box and started the drive to the bakery. He was fuming god when would it end. _How am I going to tell Jen?_ God she looked so happy when it looked like this thing was coming to an end and now he was going to have to tell her that round two was gearing up.

_She doesn't need to know…technically the law suit is against you and the City of Las Vegas, not you personally, you won't be paying the millions out of your pocket directly. Why should she had to deal with this added stress, I've put her through enough anyway. She doesn't need to know right now…let's just wait and see._

Greg pulled into the front of the bakery and went inside. Julia gave him a smile and handed him a cookie from behind the counter.

"She's upstairs with Ofilia doing money math."

"Thanks." Greg headed up the stairs and poked his head into Jenna's office. She and Ofilia had their heads huddled over some paper work and talking in Spanish and laughing at something they found in the paperwork.

_Yeah she doesn't need to know right now, give her some happiness for right now._ Greg came into the office and sat down with them and Ofilia gave him a hard time about him not being able to figure a loan interest rate. The intercom buzzed in and Greg was treated to the war chants of "HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF! HE GOT OFF!" And Jenna telling them to go back to work before she fired them all.

_If they really knew._


	12. Jitters

Jitters

December 2006

Jenna found herself out of breath and she hadn't even started her run. She had worked herself up to three miles over the summer and now she found herself holding a stitch in her side and feeling like she had ran five miles only after finishing half a mile. _It's just because you haven't been running in weeks and you're pushing yourself to hard after getting over that flu/cold thing you got after the inquest._ She decided to walk for a bit and see if she got a second wind to finish the run. She fiddled with her I-pod and found something mellow to walk to.

_Early in the morning when the sun comes through any window_

_Break the promise that each day's anew _

_Early morning, though any window_

_Blue is the memory of her bedroom eyes_

_Green is the envy I can't hide_

_Red is the color that she laid so bare_

_In early morning_

She had gone for a run while Greg was sleeping, it was the last week of December and her shop was closed down for the holidays and she had hoped a run would clear her head and help her organize some thoughts that had been bugging her for about a month now, a lot of them about Greg and what his damn problem was.

_Some might kiss me on my head of gloom_

_In early morning_

_Lie across the bed and fade at noon _

_Through any window_

_In early morning_

She had gotten sick a week after the inquest and noticed that Greg had become seriously moody with her and she didn't know how to deal with him. It was like he was pretending to be happy, about everything. It reminded her of back when they were in Stanford and he was pretending that he didn't care about her as anything other than a friend. She had tried to talk with him countless times and he told her he was fine and would either change the subject, go to work, or snap at her to stop worrying. He started pulling more hours at work, despite his promise to help her get what they needed for their trip and what they needed to get married together. It was like he was avoiding her and she couldn't figure out why,

Being sick she couldn't seem to find the energy to snap back when he yelled or fight with him about what he promised. She finally dropped the question she had wanted to ask him for weeks last night before he left for work, just to see how he would react.

_School bus take them far from home_

_Take the children far from home_

_Take the children far from home_

_To soon to see how sad their lives become _

_Through any window_

"Greg are you having second thoughts about getting married?" He stopped what he was doing and looked at her.

"What?"

"If you don't want to do this right now, say something and I'll understand. Just don't jerk my chain around."

"I wanna marry you."

"Your sure, one hundred percent." He tossed something into his kit and turned his back to her.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't now would I." She knew that should have set her off, make her wanna to fight with him, but she was tired and her head was starting to hurt again and she hoped that she wasn't getting sick again. They were supposed to go away next week.

"It's just, you've been acting odd and I…" Damn it what was wrong with her. Greg turned and looked at her.

"I'm sorry I've been kind of an ass, it's just we've been really overloaded and you've seen the hours I've been pulling." He went over and kissed her forehead. "I love you, I want to marry you and I'm looking forward to getting out of Vegas for awhile." She knew she should have pressed it, but she just let it go and he went to work and pulled a double so he went to bed the second he came in the door and she didn't get to talk to him. So she went on her run and tried to clear her head and it was not working. It just added more fuel to the fire.

_If he's having the jitters about this he would tell me right? We've never kept things from each other before…well unless you count the years we spent dancing around how we felt about each other. But, other than that we've always been honest each other. Why would he start now?_ She sighed and decided to start running again, hoping that she could finish her run without collapsing.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

_She knows_

_No she doesn't_

_She knows something wrong and she thinks it's her fault. God you're an asshole._ Greg was trying to sleep off his double shift and wasn't having any luck; his brain wouldn't shut the hell up. Greg tossed and tried to settle in a new position and hoped that worked. The civil suit was coming up and it was starting to eat at him, he still hadn't told Jenna or his family about it and was hoping they wouldn't find out. Thankfully the media that had eating up this case had found something new to entertain them, five dead hookers and two bloody college students seem to do the trick and they were leaving Greg and the civil suit alone. He flipped his pillow over and tried to settle in again, he had wanted to them, but he just couldn't seem to find the time or way to tell them.

_I could have stood up during Thanksgiving and just blurted it out. Guess what everyone I'm being sued by the family of that kid I killed!_ Jenna got really sick after Thanksgiving, some crazy stomach flu and cold combo that had wiped her out and he couldn't find a way to tell her that this time it would be a trial and instead of jail it would be millions of dollars. He was thankful that she got the sick the night of the LVPD Christmas party, they all knew and she didn't and he couldn't face the blow out that would happen if she found out they knew before her.

_You're being a coward_

_I know_

_Just tell her, she's going to be even more pissed when she finds out all of LVPD knows and she doesn't._

_It's my issue not hers._

He had been using that reasoning for weeks about why he hasn't told her yet. And he had been trying to act normal for her sake, but she just kept pushing at him, he started pulling doubles so he wouldn't have to face her or the lies he had been telling her. _God I wish she would back off already._ And after awhile she seemed to take the hint that he was fine and she backed off, Greg never thought he would be so happy to have her be quite. He knew it was mean and that he was being a real ass to her, but when he really thought about it he hadn't told her about the civil suit to make her happy and he really wanted her to be happy. It wasn't working though, he realized last night.

"Greg are you having second thoughts about getting married?" He stopped getting ready for work, she still looked really horrible from being sick for almost three weeks, he had tried to keep her home so she would rest, but since she was the owner she had to be there, mostly in the office designing and getting the books ready for the end of year. He felt something settle into his stomach, _God she found out somehow._

"What?"

"If you don't want to do this right now, say something and I'll understand. Just don't jerk my chain around."

"I wanna marry you." _Why are you asking me this now? _

"Your sure, one hundred percent." He tossed something into his kit and turned his back to her. _No I asked you to marry me for shit and giggles._

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't now would I." _God your being an ass._ He knew what he said was mean and he waited for her to start yelling at him, instead a defeated sigh came.

"It's just, you've been acting odd and I…" _Way to go, she sees right through your little act and I suggest you go and fix it before she does lose her temper on you._ Greg turned around and looked her in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I've been kind of an ass, it's just we've been really overloaded and you've seen the hours I've been pulling." He went over and kissed her forehead. "I love you, I want to marry you and I'm looking forward to getting out of Vegas for awhile." She gave him a small smile and she let it go.

_For how long though? You know that lying fixes nothing; she's going to find out and how do you think she's going to act after finding out that you've been lying to her for a month now._

_It's not her problem it's mine._

_I really don't see how that is going to win your case with her. Just tell her already._

Greg heard the front door open and lock, he heard Jenna humming to herself than he heard the shower turn on.

_I'm not telling her, it will just ruin everything._

_You're not going to like the fallout when it comes. _ He heard the shower turn off and he heard her come into the bedroom for some clothes.

"Jen," she turned around and looked at him, her hair was in a towel and she was wearing her bathrobe.

"I'm sorry did I wake you up."

"Nah can't sleep. How was your run?" She put on a pair of sweats and a tee shirt.

"I'm so out of shape it's disgusting. I was only able to run about a mile before nearly falling over." She took her hair out of the towel and started brushing her hair.

"Don't push yourself so hard, you just got over being really sick for nearly three weeks." She sat down on the bed and Greg sat up and gave her hug. "You feel like your getting another fever." She got under the covers with him and shrugged.

"I was running and took a hot shower so yeah I feel a little warm. I'm sleepy; you wanna take a nap with me." Greg curled up next to her and started playing with the wet strands of hair.

"I love you."

"I know," said Jenna and she yawned and stretched out.

"I'm really ready for next week, I wanna marry you and I mean that." Greg finally felt himself start to relax enough to doze off and Jenna soon followed suit.

Notes-Sorry for the short chapter, but it sets up what is going to happen in the next couple of chapters.

The song Jenna was listening to is by Wisely: Through any window and it stars Jenna Fischer from The Office (^-^ my other Thursday night habit) .com/watch?v=EVpBw5V7sPU

The video is very cool and I encourage people to go and watch it. Not sure if I got the lyrics right, I couldn't find them so I had to listen to the song repeatedly.

Thanks to those for left reviews, added me to alerts and their favorites. I write for you ^-^


	13. Wedding Night

Wedding Night

"Ok we're using you birth certificate, social security card and driver's license. I'm using my birth certificate, passport and driver's license. I'll meet you around 6 pm at the courthouse tomorrow night and out flight leaves at ten. Am I forgetting anything?" Greg looked over at Jenna, she was downright giddy and he couldn't help but smile at her. He was happy too, tomorrow was when they were heading out for two weeks of vacation and honeymoon combo. They had finished packing and Jenna was getting around what they need for identification to get the marriage license.

"You know you make it sound like we're going to war."

"I just want to make sure that everything is set and we can just go." Greg came up and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"We're going to go, I promise." She turned around and kissed him.

"We're getting married."

"Yes." Jenna did a mini squeal and started to jump up and down.

"Yeah!" She broke into what she dubbed 'the white girl dance'.

"You look like your having a seizure when you do that," said Greg.

"Kiss my ass Sanders."

"After tomorrow your last name is also going to be Sanders so you're going to have to stop calling me that." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll call you whatever I want to call you. After tomorrow your ass is mine forever. And it is a very cute ass and I am proud to own it." Jenna realized that her freak out last week was silly, she was the one with jitters and now that they were here she couldn't wait. _I was such a dumbass; I was seeing something that wasn't there._

She went into the bathroom to get something and Greg sighed, he felt bad not telling her about the civil suit, but she was so damn happy and wasn't going to ruin it for her. He got his stuff to get ready for work and tried to focus on the fact that he was going to marry the person he thought he had lost years ago.

_You know starting off your marriage with a lie is not a good way to go._

_She's happy and that's what matters._

"I'll see you later, I love you," called Greg leaving for work.

……………………………………………………..

He got called into the Under sheriff's office the second he walked into the lab.

"Sanders, I need to speak to you." Greg bit back a groan and headed into the office. Greg sat down and was reminded of when he was in grade school and he got called into the Principal's office for setting of some smoke bombs in a hallway. McKeen handed him a stack of paper work.

"These are the papers you'll need to present to the lawyer the LVPD has chosen to represent you in the civil suit. You'll have to meet with her in the next few weeks to go over your statement and get prepared for whatever the James's family lawyer has up there sleeve." Greg gave McKeen a puzzled look.

"LVPD is providing me with a lawyer?"

"Of course, your part of the department, the suit is technically against the department and we want to make sure that you and the department get fair representation." _Read we're going to cover your ass to help cover our own._

"Thank you sir." Greg went to leave the office when McKeen started talking again.

"HR forwarded me some paperwork to sign; you've put in a request to add Jenna Bianchi to your health insurance, you know that only spouses and children can be added."

"Well sir, in about twenty hours she should fall under the spouse column so is it going to be an issue?" McKeen gave him a look.

"I was a little surprised that she didn't offer you any help in getting an attorney, after all her being so well connected." Greg wanted to punch McKeen for that remark, it was uncalled and demeaning.

"Sir, I didn't ask for her help and I haven't told her about the suit and I would like to keep it that way." McKeen looked a little shocked, but he went back to his paperwork dismissing Greg.

It was close to five am when Greg got paged by Grissom to go with him to a scene. It had been a very busy night; Catherine was working a scene with a guy who was stuck in a thing of cement with a dead body next to him, Nick and Warrick were working a scene with a woman who had her head in a stove and Sara was going to met them at the scene when she got back from a home invasion in Summerland.

"So any details about the scene?" asked Greg when he caught up with Grissom. He gave Greg a small grin.

"They tell me it tastes like chicken." Greg just shook his head and wondered if he would ever been surprised by what a crime scene would hold.

Grissom pulled up to the Mannleigh Chicken processing plant and they both got out of the car and somehow the smell of a dead body was nothing compared to the smell of over five hundred chickens in very small cages that were sitting in the hot Vegas sun. Greg wrinkled his nose at the scent and wondered if this is why Sara was a vegetarian.

They walked further into the plant and the scent of chicken was even worse and it was mixed with the scent of bleach and dead body. Greg followed Grissom into a room that had a metal tub in the middle and a dead body. Brass was there and another man who Greg guessed was the one to find the body.

"This is Raymundo Suarez, the night janitor; he cleans the equipment from eight pm till about four am. The day shift guys came in and found him like this." Greg pulled out his camera and started to click pictures of the guy in the basin. He looked like a gray covered prune.

"This basin is designed to transfer an electrical current," said Grissom and Greg clicked some photos of the switch and the position it was in. The older man started to get rude with them.

"Of course it is it's a stun bath. It stuns the chickens before they go into the next room."

"Where they get their throats slit," said Brass dryly.

"Which is why we electrocute them first, it's humane." _Yeah. _Grissom gave the man a look which seemed to mirror what Greg was thinking, but he said nothing.

"Was the current on when you found the body?" asked Greg.

"No sir, it was off and it stays off all night. How long is this going to take?" asked the older man.

"As long as it takes," said Brass. The man let a grunt.

"I got a lot of birds out there and they're going to die in this heat."

"Well it's not like they're gonna do any better in here," said Brass and Greg forced himself not to laugh. Brass and the other man left and Greg and Grissom started running the scene.

"Maybe he was hot, passes out and falls in," suggested Greg.

"But how does he end up face down in the middle of the tub?" asked Grissom.

"It's a little tough to drown in three inches of water."

"But not impossible. If he hit the water while the current was on, it would have stunned his muscles, making him unable to get out." _But…_

"The machine is off at night and it was off when they found the body. And that means someone would have to turn it off after he was dead," said Greg.

"Yeah, but who?" They started collecting evidence and Greg was seriously thinking about asking Sara about going vegan after working this scene. He reached into a second tub and pulled out a used condom.

_Oh yeah, I'm never buying chicken that was processed here._

"Unappetizing place to get your rocks off," said Greg more than slightly grossed out. Yeah, he was swearing off chicken after this.

"Not if you have a poultry fetish." Grissom was examining the stun bath switch and it seemed to be in working order. Grissom started to poke around the cages that held the chickens. He stopped in a corner and he seemed to freeze there.

"Did you find something?" asked Greg.

"Yeah," Grissom sound shocked and to Greg that meant he must have found something major. "One more chance." Greg got up to see what Grissom had found. Grissom stepped aside and Greg was shocked to be looking at a prefect miniature replica of the crime scene he was working.

_Holy shit._

"It's another one," said Greg. Grissom nodded and he stepped aside so Greg could take the needed photos so it could be sent back to the lab ASAP.

"It seems our little friend would like to play again," said Grissom. Greg finished taking photos and let Grissom back in to get the miniature. "What do an ageing rock star, a retired cocktail waitress and a slaughter house janitor have in common?" asked Grissom more to himself than to Greg.

"Other than being dead and having these little hints left behind, I don't know," said Greg.

"Call Sara, have her met you back at the lab. Have her help you pull everything on the last two victims and find out from Brass about who Raymundo Suarez was before he became the mini killer's victims." Grissom took the miniature out to the SUV and Greg started the drive back to the lab.

_God this job gets weirder everyday. _

"I don't believe it, another miniature," said Sara with a hint of curiosity.

"I know freaky right," said Greg, pulling boxes out of the evidence storage from the Izzy Delancy and Penny Garden cases. "You know I wonder how the killer does this, I mean I've heard of serial killers leaving the police little taunts, but this goes above and beyond the call of duty."

"It's a little early to be calling them a serial killer. They need to rack up at least two more bodies to get there. But who knows, maybe there's more than one person doing this. One builds the miniature and someone else does the killing and drop off," suggested Sara.

"That's a twisted relationship, can you imagine that night at home? 'Sweetie, pass me the glue gun so I can glue this dead doll down,'" said Greg opening the box on Penny Garden.

"Why don't I take Izzy and you take Penny? Maybe since we didn't work those scenes we'll see something new," suggested Sara.

"Works for me," said Greg sitting down and started running about the miniature killer's second victim.

_A neighbor had surveillance cameras,_ thought Greg flipping through the files sipping some coffee a few hours later. They found video of someone delivering the changed mini to the Garden house. Greg hadn't seen the video, so he dug the tape out and headed up to see Archie.

"Hey Greggo, long time no see. I heard you were going to be jumping ship for a couple of weeks," said Archie looking up from the monitor.

"Only two weeks. So I'm working the miniature case and there is video footage of someone dropping on the Garden miniature. Can you play it for me?" asked Greg.

"It wasn't very good footage, it was really grainy," said Archie taking the tape from Greg and pulling up the footage. He was right, it was horribly grainy and nothing seemed to help clean it up.

"Is that a logo on the jacket?" asked Greg. Archie cued it up and paused, it was something on the back of the jacket, but it was too fuzzy to make anything out.

"Damn," muttered Archie. "I'm sorry this is as good as it gets." Grissom poked his head into the lab.

"I can make it better," said Grissom holding a box. "We got a loan from a new image restoration company. Can I see that tape Archie?" Archie ejected the tape and gave it to Grissom. "I'm going to try to layer the image and see if that clears anything up. Greg, good call on the logo. Dig a little deeper into Penny and I'll get you when I figure out what the logo is." Greg nodded and went back to the office to dig a little more.

_We could really catch this guy, oh man that would kick so much ass._ Greg went back down to the basement to see what else he could dig up.

…………………………………………………………………………..

"Ok, the schedules are set for everyone, including an alternate schedule in case someone should call in sick. The loan and supplier payments have gone out, all the people wanting a taste test have been set up, everything I need to switch from Miss to Mrs., is right there and all you need to do is fax them out from me sometime next week. Am I forgetting anything?" asked Jenna pacing around her office. It was getting close to four and she needed to get home, change, get the suitcases and head to the courthouse and get started on the paperwork.

"I think you're forgetting to relax. So relax everything is taken care of, nothing is going to happen while you're gone so don't freak out. Enjoy yourself and your husband." Jenna rolled her eyes and reached into her desk.

"Did I show the rings I bartered for?" Ofilia sat down in a chair across from her.

"Nope, let me see." Jenna pulled them out the box for Ofilia to see.

"Mine's going on this chain," said Jenna twisting the one her engagement charm was on.

"Damn what did you barter for these?" Jenna grinned.

"His daughter's wedding cake in October and his twenty fifth wedding anniversary cake next year. Old man Mea even agreed to not tell anyone we got wedding rings from him, if we didn't tell his wife he was smoking a cigar in the store when Greg and I stopped by in November."

"You are an evil lady, but these are really nice rings. Did you design them?" asked Ofilia.

"Yep." Jenna had wanted to design her and Andy's rings but he went and got the rings without her and Jenna just held her tongue about it even though she really didn't like what he picked out. It was a huge stone and considering what she worked with dough all day, the ring was going to get ruined or the diamond would fall out and end up baked in a batch of cookies. Greg let her design their rings and Jenna had picked them up this morning. She really didn't care for the standard diamond, everyone had one and considering how she and Greg were, they weren't like everyone else. She went with silver band and she ended up going with what was purple sapphire in the stone setting. Greg's ring a white gold with metal branded roped edging, she had them both engraved on the inside in very tiny writing.

"Il mio cuore, la mia sede, la mia vita è con voi…in English please?" asked Ofilia.

"My heart, my home, my life are with you…it's sappy I know…"

"It's sweet, sappy but sweet. Remind me to poke you for ring ideas when Jonathan and I finally decide to take the leap."

"Well Jonathan better plan on moving his ass back to Vegas, because I'll be damned if I let you and Millia go to New York."

"Fuck that, it's cold in New York, he can bring his ass to me." She and Jenna just laughed at each other. "I'm really happy for, despite his nerdy white boy habits, he's good to you and if he likes living he'll stay good to you." Jenna hugged Ofilia.

"Thank you."

"No get out of here, before I decide to call your mother and ruin all your hard work." Jenna tossed the rings into her purse and skipped out of the bakery. Megan and Julia looked at each other.

"She's eloping," said Megan.

"Yeah, another woman sells herself to the idea of marriage. Makes me wanna puke," said Julia. Ofilia came down the stairs and smacked her upside the head.

"Just wait pumpkin your day will come and when it does I want a front row seat."

"I'll have Jenna shoot me first," said Julia heading back to the kitchen.

"Kids these days," said Megan and Ofilia together getting back to work.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Greg we got a break," said Grissom handing him a print out of the cleared up picture from the surveillance cameras. "Look through the members of this club and see if anyone looks like they have ties to any of the other cases."

"Yes Grissom," Greg took the print out and started looking through the members' webpage of a group called Locomotiveville. Greg skimmed through the first two pages, on the third page a name caught his eye, Ernie Dell. Greg called Brass and got him on the second ring.

"Hey Brass, its Sanders. Did you interview a guy named Ernie Dell at the chicken place?"

"Yeah, told me that Raymundo and Bubbles Mannleigh, the owner's wife were having a fling. Why do you ask?"

"We may have him on tape placing a miniature on Penny Garden's doorstep. I'll meet you and Grissom upstairs and fill you in." Greg printed out the picture of Ernie Dell and headed upstairs.

_Oh my god, five months of waiting for this guy to screw up and we're finally gonna catch him._ Greg filled them in on what he found and Grissom was on the phone seconds lately trying to get a warrant. Greg went into the locker room and got his vest and headed out.

_Five months, we're going to catch this guy…oh this is going to be great._ He caught up with Brass and they were going to take a police car to Ernie Dell's house and Grissom was going to get him from Mannleigh chicken and bring him in for questions.

_This is going to be great…_

_Remember Jenna at six…_

_Yeah, we'll be there, but wow five months and we're finally gonna get this guy_

………………………………………………………………………………..

Jenna looked around the courthouse and back at her watch, 6:15. _Relax its only fifteen minutes…traffic was a bitch, we almost didn't make here in time._ She re-crossed her legs and smoothed out her skirt. She had changed into a long purple skirt and was wearing a white fitted shirt, she had pulled her hair into a half ponytail with the rest of her hair straight down. She pulled out her I-Pod and started listening to a band Julia had gotten her into, called Between Trees.

_Late night, driving home together_

_And at red lights we press our lips together_

_And we're holding tight now_

_Slow it down now_

_Let's take our time_

_Let the moment last until it feels right_

_Holding back and not getting too carried away_

_Let the music fade_

_'Cause you are the brightest star_

_And I'm in love with who you are_

_And you are the brightest star_

_And I'm lost without your love_

_Your love_

She started filling in her half the marriage paperwork and hummed to the song. She was on page two when she felt someone tap her shoulder, she looked up and felt her good mood dissolve in an instant. It was one of the annoying reporters from the trial, he was the one who sat next to the courtroom artist and had started asking her question.

"I thought it was you, how have you been?" he asked in a mocking cheerful voice and caused Jenna to want to take the pencil and stab him in the eye.

"Fine, what do you want?" asked Jenna.

"Oh nothing, I just thought I recognized you and wanted to know what you were doing here, Mr. Sanders isn't here for his civil case is he?"

"Civil case?" asked Jenna. _What?_

"The civil case, the James family is suing him and the LVPD for over three million dollars. We were going to do a story about it in a few weeks, give the readers an update about everything. The case wasn't moved up was it?" _How the fuck should I know…I didn't even know about the civil case!!!_

"No, it hasn't been moved up." He looked down at what she filling out and smiled like they were old friends.

"Well congratulations, I think you two are a very cute couple, have a nice day," said the reporter walking away from her not noticing how shocked she was or that she was blinking away tears.

_CIVIL SUIT, CIVIL SUIT, CIVIL SUIT!!!!!!! He didn't bother to tell me they were suing him too. When the hell did this happen? The reporters know already, did this happen today?_ She thought about the past few months and how odd and short tempered Greg had been and the pieces started to fall into place. _Why the hell didn't_ _tell me about this._ She looked at her watch, six thirty. She stopped filling out the form and waited for Greg. _He's going to tell me everything when he gets here and he's going to be here any second._

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Greg got out of the car and followed Brass and the other uniformed officers into the Dell house. Brass turned on a light switch and Greg was freaked out the second he got a good look at the Dell house. A model train set and town took over three rooms upstairs. Greg started looking closer at the minis and shuddered.

_I'll take freaks and weirdoes for a thousand,_ the guy had posed his minis in a variety of death scenes. Jumping off buildings, getting hit by the train, in a mob being beaten, Greg turned away and followed Brass downstairs to the workshop basement area. They found more minis in death poses including a cemetery where the Grim Reaper and a bloody scythe stood over everything on a hill.

"I know it's wrong to judge, but this guy is a freak," said Brass.

"You're telling me. Tell Grissom I'll photography everything and bring him some of the miniature making tools back to the lab. I think we may have found our serial killer," said Greg pulling out his camera and clicking some shots of the cemetery model while Brass went to call Grissom.

_Oh we are going to nail this guy._

…………………………………………………………………………………..

7:30, 7:45, 8:35. Jenna stopped looking at her watch and pulled out her cell phone and she hadn't missed any calls or text messages. _Where is he?_ She called his cell phone and it went straight to voicemail. She didn't bother to leave a message. She stared at the half finished form in her hands and just glared at it. People were leaving the courthouse and they were looking at her like she was a thing of pity. One woman even stopped and asked Jenna if she could call her a cab. Jenna declined the offer and the woman patted her shoulder and left.

Jenna went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, god she did look horrible, her eyes were puffy from trying not to cry after the reporter dropped the bombshell on her. Her face was pale and her stomach hurt and she felt cold. She turned and ran into the nearest stall and threw up the lunch she and Ofilia had had earlier today. She came out of the stall and started rinsing her mouth out.

_He's not coming_

_But…_

_He's been lying to your face for a good two months now. Why should this be any different?_ She was still fuming about not being told about the lawsuit, about being shut out. _You can't ask someone to share your life with you and than close up and hide it when it gets tough._ She looked at her watch again; it was close to nine, the plane to Hawaii left in an hour. She grabbed her purse and the half finished marriage license and headed for her car. She was going to the crime lab and find out what the hell was going on. _Where the fuck is Greg and what the hell is this civil suit about?_

....................................................................................................................................

Greg was exhausted, everything to nail Ernie Dell was here and he was going to help Grissom prove it. Greg bagged every tool that could be used to make a miniature and he and Grissom were going over it in the lab. Grissom was comparing the pans from the Izzy miniature to a tool from the Dell house.

"They match, a prefect match," Greg looked over to the comparison microscope and Grissom was right, the tool had the same fault marks and everything. "Keep looking over the stuff you brought back, I'm going to question Dell about his ties to Izzy and the miniature." Grissom left the room and Greg popped his next and kept looking over tools, his eyes were starting to burn and he went to go get some coffee and ran into Hodges who gave him a look.

"If your going to keep your girlfriend waiting for you in the lobby the least you could do is give her something to read, I think the magazines we have in there are from 2004." Greg almost dropped his coffee and looked at Hodges.

"What time is it?"

"Almost eleven…" Greg was out of the room before Hodges had finished his sentence.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!!! I can't believe that I lost track of time that badly…fucking case, I got so wrapped up helping with this miniature killer I forgot to watch the clock…relax, just explain to Jenna what happened, you guys can go in the morning to the courthouse and than on vacation…just apologize for screwing up and it will be ok. _ Greg walked into the lobby and Jenna was sitting in a chair just looking at the wall in front of her and fiddling with her cell phone.

"Jen, I'm so sorry we've been…" she looked up him, closed her cell phone and stood up. She had been crying, he could see that the second he looked at her.

"I waited for you for almost three hours and when I couldn't reach you on your cell, I came here, I've been here ever since. Where were you?"

"We got a break in the miniature killer case and I…"

"Sure you weren't being sued by someone else I don't know about?" _Oh fuck._

"How did you…"

"A little reporter bird whispered in my ear while I waited like a fucking moron for you," snapped Jenna. Judy looked up from what she was typing and a few lab techs that were coming in for swing looked back and forth between the pair. Greg grabbed Jenna's arm and pulled her into the empty break room, he shut the door and looked at her. She was beyond pissed, she couldn't stand still she was so pissed. Everything that she had been holding back for months and all the hurt about today was coming to surface.

"When were you planning on telling me about this? Or were you just going to wait till I read about it in the paper or was it going to be like when I had to tell your parents the truth about your job. Gee I thought your parents were the only ones you lied to."

"I didn't mean for you to ever find out." He realized that was the wrong thing to say the second it came out of his mouth.

"You can't do that Greg! You can't expect me to be a part of your life if you're going to hide it from me! You asked me to marry you, and you just can't…god damn it I can't find words to peg how pissed off I am right now. Not only did you lie to me, you left me waiting for you for hours and I…" she was right about not having words to express herself and Greg was almost grateful for it.

"Look, the lawsuit is between me, the LVPD and the James family. It really wasn't something I wanted to bring home, it was my business." When he looked at her, he realized once again the wrong thing had come out of his mouth.

"You asked _me_ to marry _you_, when you did that you made your business my business. I can't believe you thought I wouldn't find out? What kind of moron do you think I am?"

"I'm sorry, alright. I'll make this up to you, I promise."

"And you think that makes it better, I can't talk to you here." She pointed to the window where the lab techs were watching through the window. "Just go get your stuff and we'll go to the airport and see when the next flight leaves. I really need a vacation after your bullshit this afternoon."

"I can't leave just yet, we've had a major break in this case and I'm needed here for a little bit longer." _God you're a dumbass tonight._ She balled her hands up at her side and started to shake.

"Tell your job to go fuck itself!"

"What?"

"Tell. Your. Job. To. Go. Fuck. Itself. Do I need to say it slower? Your job is the reason I waited for you like a moron for almost four hours. Your job is the reason you nearly got killed a back alley in Vegas and your job is the reason you're being sued right now and quite frankly I really hate your job a whole lot right now and I just want you to get out of here with me, please." She was near tears and Greg took her hands.

"I'm really, really sorry I lied and that I made you wait for me without calling you. But, I'm needed here right now, we've been trying to catch this guy for five months now and we're this close to doing it. I really wanna put this guy away before he does this again. Go to the airport; see if you can get our tickets changed to late tomorrow afternoon, I'll see at home in the morning." Jenna just stood there and she wiped her eyes.

"Them first. I shouldn't be surprised. I'm not dead or being beaten in an alley so why should I matter. I'll see you later," said Jenna walking out the break room before Greg could say anything and she nearly ran into Nick and Warrick who heard the last thing Jenna had said to Greg. They gave Greg a look; he sighed and headed back to the lab he was working in defeated.

"Damn that was below the belt," said Warrick.

"No shit. I'm gonna talk to her. Find out if we have anything else involving the Alyona case to clear up," said Nick heading out the break room.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Jenna was marching through the parking lot ripping up some papers and muttering to herself when Nick caught up with her.

"Jenna, hey Jen. Wait up a second."

"Go to hell Nick." She was reaching into her purse for her keys when Nick grabbed her arm and made her look at him.

"Look, whatever Greg did he feels like shit about it and that remark was uncalled and cruel. We've been really swamped tonight and this miniature killer thing has been taunting us for months and we all want to put it to bed. I don't expect you to understand what we deal with, but ease up on Greg, with this civil suit coming up…" Jenna jerked her arm out of his grasp and let out a bitter laugh.

"Well I guess I was going to be the only one left in the dark about this civil suit thing. The reporters know and you know so I'm going to assume the whole LVPD knows. And what you deal with…see Nicky we do understand, it's you who doesn't understand what we deal with."

"We?" asked Nick confused; Jenna lived with Greg how could she not know about the civil suit.

"Me, Tina, Lindsey, all the other people who get involved, who care about you. We care about you, more than you will ever understand. We put you first, above everything else because of what you do the people you help. But, we'll never be first in your life, they will," said Jenna pointing to the lab. "They always will and after awhile we get so tired of a dead body coming first, we try anything to get you to remember we're here. Tina started fucking behind Warrick's back, Lindsey hitchhikes to Freemont Street so Catherine will pay attention to her, and I heard Ellie Brass had to become a drug mule to get Brass's attention." Jenna started pulling on her necklace and her eyes start to tear up. "I said yes to getting married."

Nick's jaw dropped and Jenna went on. "But he never showed up because of work. And it doesn't matter that I've been there for him through everything, I'm still second and I know Greg's been through hell and I've tried to hold his hand while he went though it, but you just can't…shut people out and expect them just shrug it off. And …"

She seem to lose her train of thought and Nick wondered if she was having some sort of breakdown, she looked at him and in the calmest voice possible she started talking again. "I need to not be here. Tell Greg I'm sorry, I won't bother him at work anymore." She shoved the paper she had been ripping up at him. "Can you throw that away; I won't need it now." She got in the car and Nick stopped her from shutting the door.

"Jen, it's you and Tina and Lindsey that keep us going. The fact they we get to go home to people like you guys helps us keep going." Jenna nodded and started the car.

"See Nicky, that's the thing. We keep you going, what do we have to keep us going?"

She almost slammed his hand in the door and almost ran over his foot when she drove out of the parking lot. Nick looked down at the paper she had been ripping up and noticed that on the top of the shredded pile were the words. _Clark County-Marr_ she had ripped the rest up. _Damn it_, Nick headed inside to find Greg and tell him about the meltdown he had just witnessed first hand. He got stopped by Sofia in the hallway.

"I need you to come with me on a possible child abduction case in Henderson." _Shit, I'll have to get to Greggo later._ He followed Sofia down out of the lab and thought about what Jenna had said.

"_We keep you going, what do we have to keep us going?" _

…………………………………………………...……………………………………..

It was almost six am when the Miniature killer case came to a close; it closed because Ernie Dell put a bullet in his brain after confessing to the murder. Greg was exhausted and felt like shit. All that work for nothing, he wanted to go home, shower and work out his fight with Jenna. She had ever right to be mad at him, he had lied and been an ass. He hoped that she had cooled down since last night and was willing to hear him out.

"Night Judy," said Greg and she stopped him.

"This came for you a little bit ago." She handed him an envelope and something heavy was inside it. Greg opened it up and pulled out a note, it was from Jenna and it was short and to the point.

_Enjoy your wedding night._ He pulled out her engagement necklace with their wedding rings on the chain.

_She wouldn't…_

"Is something wrong?" asked Judy.

"I'm fine." He shoved the necklace with the rings into his pocket and threw the note in the trash. He ran to his car and pulled out his cell phone and franticly called Jenna's cell phone, it went straight to her voicemail.

"Jenna pick up the phone right now! I'm serious answer the phone." He felt a panic start to set in to his stomach. _God where would she be…the bakery, that's her second home and she would want to talk to Ofilia about the fight._ Greg floored it the four blocks to the bakery and parked. He slammed into the bakery and got surprise looks from Megan and a new girl.

"Is Jenna in the back?"

"No," He turned and started up the stairs to the offices. He opened up the door to Jenna's office and found Ofilia sitting there shredding a stack of papers. She looked up him, rolled her eyes and went back to shredding.

"Where…" Ofilia cut him off.

"She's not here." Greg started to leave again when Ofilia called out to him. "I don't know where she is. She told me she would call when she got where she was going." Greg turned around and he felt cold, Ofilia just looked at him blankly.

"What did you do to her?" asked Ofilia. "She called me this morning and she asked if I faxed her name change forms and when I told her I hadn't, she told me that was good and to shred them, she wouldn't need them because you guys weren't getting married. She told me about how she waited and that you lied to her. She told me about the civil suit and how your fucking job was more important than her and that she needed to be not here for awhile. She fixed it so she could go away with you for two weeks and since you couldn't pull yourself away for awhile, she was going anyways, she just wasn't sure where, but she has her passport so she could be anywhere and god you're a dickhead!" Ofilia stood up and got in his face.

"All you had to do was go away with her, that's all she wanted. She bent over backwards planning this for the two of you and she was so fucking happy. She loves you and…just go, go back to work, she won't bother you anymore." Ofilia shoved another paper into the shredder. "I've never heard her sound so broken and lost in all the years I've known her. I hope your proud of yourself." Ofilia shoved a whole file into the shredder and Greg left out the fire escape in case the other girls were waiting for him downstairs with frying pans.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

He waited all day for the phone to ring; he felt an overwhelming sense of panic about where Jenna was. He couldn't file a missing person report, she had to be gone for at least a day and Ofilia had heard from her so she wasn't missing. He paced the apartment, she had been here. His suitcase was on the bed and it was still packed with all his clothes. Gabriel looked at Greg like he was crazy; he picked up his catnip mouse and placed it on Jenna's side of the bed and he stated to paw at her side of the bed, the cat curled up there and wouldn't move.

_God damn it where is she?_ He was scheduled off anyways and he wasn't leaving until she called, he had called her at least six times and they all went to voicemail and he left a message every time. He couldn't believe she would just take off like this, it wasn't like her. God he told her he was sorry and that he was going to make it up to her.

_We told you that you wouldn't like the fallout from this; here it is…she's gone._

_Shut up!_

_She's not coming back…you know how she felt about lies and you did it anyway and you left her waiting again, she waited four hours to marry you and what did you do…you fucked it up. _Greg dug the rings out of his pocket and looked at them, she had worked so hard to design them, and he really hadn't said much when she was working on them, he was in his pissy phase and all he do when she asked for input was to nod and agree with her.

_God I just want her home._ The phone rang and almost scared the piss out of Greg, it was close to seven and the apartment was dark, expect for the glow of the cell phone. It was her.

"Jenna!" he snapped, he was torn between relief and rage at her finally calling him after fourteen hours.

"Hi," she sounded so calm it pushed him a little further into rage.

"Where are you?"

"On a beach." God he wanted to scream, here he was out of his mind worried about her and she was on a beach.

"Fucking Christ Jenna! Where? What beach," screamed Greg, she was talking in the calm tone that one uses with a child and it pushed him a little further.

"Don't yell at me."

"Don't yell at you! Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? I've been home, glued to my phone wondering if you were going to call and if you were alright?"

"Sucks doesn't it."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It sucks to be scared out of your mind, wondering if someone you love is going to be ok. It sucks when they won't be honest with you and tell you what's going on. Good, welcome to what my world has been like for months now." That calm tone she had been using slipped a notch and if Greg's heart wasn't so closed he would have heard it and reached out, instead he pushed harder.

"Damn it I told you I was sorry about last night and lying to you. I'm not in the mood for playing games, just tell me where you are and I'll come get you."

"No, I don't want that." Greg felt his world stop and he griped the phone tighter. "I don't know who you are anymore, you're mean and hostile and I can't be there for you if you don't want me there."

"What the hell does that mean," he knew somewhere in the back of his mind what she was saying, but he needed to hear it from her.

"I can't watch you punish yourself anymore about what happened that night, you've been pushing me away for months now and I just didn't see it until last night. It's like you feel that you don't have the right to be happy because of what happened. I've tried to be there for you, but it's not helping and until you figure out what you want from me and from your life, I can't marry you, I can't be your girlfriend, I can't even be your friend until you figure out what you really want and get some sort of peace with yourself." He was shaking with how pissed off he was with her in the this moment.

"And what I don't, did you ever think of that?" He heard her sigh on the other end.

"Yes I did. It hurt me to be without you, but I made it and I can do it again and honestly I would rather be alone than with who you are now. Good bye Greg." He heard the dial tone in his ear and he sat down on the sofa. He was holding the rings in his hand still. He looked at them very a long time, than he threw them across the room and he heard them hit and break something on a shelf and he didn't care. He grabbed his keys and decided to save his days off for something else and headed into work.

Reviews?


	14. Bright lights

Bright lights in the sky

_I don't care if your world is ending today  
Because I wasn't invited to it anyway  
You said I tasted famous, so I drew you a heart  
But now I'm not an artist I'm a fucking work of art  
I've got an F and a C and I got a K too  
And the only thing that's missing is a bitch like you_

You wanted perfect  
You got your perfect  
But now I'm too perfect for someone like you  
I was a dandy in your ghetto with  
A snow white smile and you'll  
Never be as perfect whatever you do

"Meow….meow….meeeooowwww!"

"Gabriel shut the hell up!" yelled Greg from the bathroom. God that cat was driving him nuts. Gabriel looked at him from Jenna's side of the bed and started to paw and tunnel under the blankets and he started meowing under the blankets. Greg realized that trying to make the cat shut up was pointless and he kept getting ready for work. _God damn I can't believe she left her freaking cat here._ She had been gone two days; _well two days, seven hours, forty minutes and thirty two seconds, but whose keeping track?_ And all the cat had done since Jenna had left was paw at her side of the bed, meow and cry, when we wasn't in the bed doing that he would walk around the apartment meowing and pawing to get into rooms with shut doors. Greg was half tempted to toss the cat outside out of spite. _That's right reaffirm that you're a dick._

He was going to call Ofilia tomorrow morning and have her come get Gabriel. _Hell why stop with the cat, start packing all her shit. Send it to storage and leave her a note telling her to enjoy her life._ He finished getting dressed and was listening to a mixed cd.

_Jen always called it your pissy white boy rock, didn't she mix this cd for you_

_Shut up_. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down; yeah he would pack her shit tomorrow when he got home. She wanted to be away from him, fine two could play at this game. The song by Manson ended and went into Seether.

_I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh  
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away  
I keep your photograph, I know it serves me well  
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain_

_'Cause I'm broken when I'm open  
And I don't feel like I am strong enough  
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome  
And I don't feel right when you're gone away_

Greg got up and turned the cd off and took it out the player, yeah she had mixed this for him months ago. He threw it in the trash, got his lunch around and decided to head into work early when he heard Gabriel start pawing at the office door and meowing again.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

"Hey Greggo, I thought you were off for two weeks," said Catherine when he went into the locker room.

"Change of plans," he said. Catherine just gave him a look, she had heard from Jacqui about Jenna coming in and waiting over an hour for Greg and how they had been seen fighting in the break room and Jenna had left the lab near tears and Greg went back to the miniature case without saying a word the rest of the night.

"Well Nick has been looking for you. He says it's important," said Catherine shutting her locker. Greg nodded and Catherine touched his shoulder. "If you need to talk…"

"I'm fine, where's Nick"

"Break room, go talk to him before I drag him on my wild goose chase about Jay Finch," said Catherine leaving the locker room. Greg left the locker room and wandered into the break room to speak to Nick. Nick looked up from the file he was reading and looked at Greg.

"I didn't see you yesterday so I was wondering if you had gone on your vacation after all," said Nick. Greg sat down and looked at him.

"I didn't go on vacation, Jen went. She decided to go on a permanent vacation from me." Nick looked shocked.

"Damn G, I'm sorry, what did she said?"

"That until I figure out what I want with my life she couldn't be in it or something similar to that line of bullshit. You know I told her I was sorry about not telling her about the civil suit…" Nick cut him off.

"You didn't tell her about the civil suit? Why not?"

"It was my business."

"Greg, you asked her to marry you, you can't hide shit like that and expect anything good to happen," said Nick

"How did you know about that?" asked Greg.

"After her little fit with you last night I went to talk to her and she told me that she had waited for you to get the marriage license. That and she handed me a ripped up marriage license, told me she wouldn't need it." Greg just rolled his eyes.

"God, if she would have waited for me to come home I would have talked to her."

"She waited hours to marry you; I say she was pretty waited out. Greg, you didn't see her after she left here, she was heartbroken and if I was a shrink I would have pegged her as having a nervous breakdown or something."

"I really don't want to talk about this right now, Catherine's waiting for you. I should go get my assignment for tonight," Greg stood up and walked away. _Fucking hell what did she say to Nick?_

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg started trying to find any relatives of the late Ernie Dell and was buried in it when Sara poked her head in the room Greg was in.

"Hey, you up for a mini market robbery?"

"Sure, it beats sitting here," said Greg and he pushed aside the mountain of paperwork and went to his locker to get his vest. He opened the locker and looked at the door of it. The picture of him and Jenna from his birthday party last year was still taped on the door.

_She designed and made the cake while you were at work and she came in during your shift and everyone thought it was the coolest thing ever. Wendy asked her if it would be possible to get a cake shaped like a test tube…_Greg slammed the locker door shut and went to find Sara.

Sara was driving and she kept looking over at Greg, he was quite and that was never a good sign. He hadn't complained when she took the driver's seat, he didn't turn the radio on to something loud and annoying like he normally did. He just sat there; Sara had heard bits and pieces of the lab gossip about him and Jenna fighting in the lab and since Greg hadn't gone on vacation she was going to safely assume that something major had happened, and it wasn't good.

"You know I'm not wearing a bra today," said Sara. Greg just looked at her.

"What?" asked Greg and Sara gave him a small grin.

"Just wanted to see if you were still alive over there? If you're going to stay quite, at least turn the radio on for my amusement." Greg leaned over and clicked the radio on.

_What hurts the most  
Was being so close  
And having so much to say  
And watching you walk away_

"God you can tell when Nick was in the Denali last," muttered Greg and he flipped the radio station.

_And you know that we're doomed.  
My dear,  
We're slow dancing in a burning room._

I was the one you always dreamed of,  
You were the one I tried to draw.  
How dare you say it's nothing to me?  
Baby, you're the only light I ever saw.

Greg flipped the radio again and muttered something.

_I remember that time you told me you said__  
__"Love is touching souls" __  
__Surely you touched mine __  
__'Cause part of you pours out of me __  
__In these lines from time to time __  
__Oh, you're in my blood like holy wine __  
__You taste so bitter and so sweet_

Greg flipped the radio again and was half tempted to tear the damn thing out of the SUV when the next song came on.

_You're the only one I ever believed in  
The answer that could never be found  
The moment you decided to let love in  
Now I'm banging on the door of an angel  
The end of fear is where we begin  
The moment we decided to let love in_

_There's nothing we can do about  
The things we have to do without  
The only way to feel again  
Is let love in_

Greg clicked the radio off and sat back in his seat and Sara bit back a laugh.

"You and the radio having issues that I should know about? Come on Greg, spill." Greg leaned back and looked at Sara.

"Jenna broke up with me." Sara didn't say anything so Greg kept talking. "We got into a fight about me not telling her about the civil suit."

"You didn't tell her about the civil suit?"

"No."

"Why not?" Greg sighed.

"I didn't want to her to worry and it was my issue not hers." Sara turned and looked at Greg.

"I'm going to tell this as a woman and as your friend, that is bullshit and I don't blame her for being pissed."

"Fine, take her side."

"I'm not taking sides; I'm giving you a woman's point of view." They pulled up to the mini mart and Sara parked the car. "If you want to talk more after this, I'll be the good listener for a change." Greg shrugged and they got out of the car.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

"So talk, I'll listen," said Sara when they were finished processing the mini mart and Sara was buying him pancakes and coffee at Franks. Greg took a long drink of his coffee and organized his thoughts.

"I didn't tell Jenna about the civil suit, I just, she was really happy after the inquest ended and when I got handed the papers to the civil suit I knew if would really just ruin everything."

"But, she found out anyway. How?" asked Sara, Greg didn't see any reason not to tell Sara the full story, she wouldn't criticize him.

"I asked Jenna to marry me and we were just going to do one of those courthouse deals and than take off on vacation. While she was waiting for me, a reporter or someone came up and told her about the civil suit and than I got caught up in the miniature killer case, I lost track of time and I forgot my own wedding and Jenna came down to the lab and we had a fight, I asked her to go home, to wait for me and we would talk about it. Instead, she sent me the rings back along with her engagement neck. Than she took off to parts unknown and now I'm stuck with her damn cat that does nothing but walk around the apartment and meow non stop and it drives me crazy and yeah I'm really pissed off at her right now." Sara took a bite of her eggs and thought.

"Well, she left her cat that means something." Greg raised an eyebrow.

"That she's trying to drive me to the loony bin with the cat's nonstop crying."

"No, if she left something like that behind, she's not ready to ready to leave for good yet. You could still work things out, it's clear that you miss her."

"I don't miss her."

"Greg isn't lying what got you into this mess. It you were a little wooden puppet your nose would be a home for little birdies right now. You miss her, you miss her a lot and the sooner you owe up to that, you'll start to feel better." Greg started to poke at his pancakes and decided to turn the tables on Sara.

"Are you going to miss Grissom when he goes on sabbatical?"

"Yes, but he needs this. He's tired and I understand that it's not me he wants away from, it's here; it's Vegas and all the work we've seen. The case with the kids and Carl Fisher really got to him and things have just been eating at him ever since. Now that your done questioning my relationship, what are you going to do with your relationship?"

"I don't know yet, she told me to figure out what I want and until I did she wasn't going to be there."

"I get figuring than."

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Greg went back to the lab and finished up the e-mails and Goggle searches for any Ernie Dell relative. He would finish sending out the snail mail during his next shift, and the bank accounts would have to wait until the banks opened, he was tired. He had fallen asleep on the sofa when he came last night and it was just to lumpy.

_ He shifted on the sofa and tried to get comfortable. He honestly didn't know how she had slept here all these weeks, it was uncomfortable. He felt her starting to doze off and he poked her a little._

_"How do you sleep on this thing, it's all lumpy?"_

_"I have it broke in where I want it to be, so it's really easy, watch." She was dozing off again when he started kissing on her neck._ Greg shook his head and decided to go outside and get some fresh air. Greg stepped outside and sat down on a bench and closed his eyes.

"_I've tried to be there for you, but it's not helping and until you figure out what you want from me and from your life, I can't marry you, I can't be your girlfriend, I can't even be your friend until you figure out what you really want and get some sort of peace with yourself."_ Greg didn't know what he wanted; he wanted his brain to shut up though. He felt someone sit down on the bench and he looked over and saw Grissom looking up at the night sky.

"They're really beautiful aren't they?" asked Grissom.

"What?" asked Greg, he was going to go home after this he was exhausted.

"The stars, just take a second and look at them." Greg looked up at the night sky and he couldn't remember the last time he looked at them. "They're one of the most beautiful things in the sky and yet we hardly take the time to look at them." Greg nodded and kept looking at the sky and Grissom started talking again.

"You know some people think that a star burns brighter right before it goes out, however at the end of a star's life they simply become dimmer and dimmer, fading into black dwarfs." Greg gave Grissom a look.

"Are you trying to tell me something without really telling me something? Because I'm really tired right now and I can't wrap my head around anything cryptic right now." Grissom shrugged.

"I'm telling you about black dwarfs right now, if you want to find a hidden meaning in what I'm saying that's all you. Just remember to look at the stars every once in awhile, you'll never know when it will burn out." A cab pulled up and Grissom picked his bag up and put it in the cab. "Remember what I told you, call the PPACE and talk to your union rep, look at the stars, and she'll come home when it's time." Greg gave Grissom a look.

"How do you know she'll come home?"

"She left her cat, they'll always come back for the pet." Grissom got in the cab and it drove off. Greg sighed and decided to clock out for the night and try and get some sleep. He went in and got his keys and stuff out his locker. He noticed the picture of them from his birthday. He looked at the photo again and unstuck from the locker and put it in his pocket and headed out.

He got in the car and eyed the radio. Nana Olaf had told him that if it seemed like a sign than it should be treated as such and so far the radio and various cd's had been sending signs at him and he had been ignoring them.

"Alright universe you win, I'll listen to whatever you tell me to listen too and I'll figure it out from there." Greg turned the radio on and started driving home.

_Why am I not surprised by the universe's song choice._

_She got out of town on the railway, New York bound  
Took all except my name  
Another alien on Broadway  
Well, some things in this world you just can't change  
Some things you cant see until it gets too late  
_

_Baby, baby, baby when all your love is gone  
Who will save me from all I'm up against out in this world  
And maybe, maybe, maybe  
You'll find something that's enough to keep you  
But if the bright lights don't receive you  
You should turn yourself around and come on home  
_

_I got a hole in me now  
I got a scar I can talk about  
She keeps a picture of me in her apartment in the city  
But some things in this world_

_Man, they don't make sense  
Some things you don't leave until they leave you  
And then the things that you miss, you say  
_

_Baby, baby, baby when all your love is gone  
Who will save me from all I'm up against out in this world  
And maybe, maybe, maybe  
You'll find something that's enough to keep you  
But if the bright lights don't receive you  
You should turn yourself around and come on home_

Let that city take you in (come on home)  
Let that city spit you out (come on home)  
Let that city take you down, yeah  
For God sakes turn around  


_Baby, baby, baby when all your love is gone  
Who will save me from all I'm up against out in this world  
Yeah well, maybe, maybe, maybe  
You'll find something that's enough to keep you  
But if the bright lights don't receive you  
Well, turn yourself around and come on home_

Yeah, come on home  
Baby, baby, baby, baby  
Come on home  
Yeah, come on home  
Yeah, come on home  
Yeah, come on home  
Baby, baby, baby, baby  
Come on home

He turned the radio off after that and finished the drive home in silence. He got home and went up to the apartment, Gabriel was pawing at the bed again and he looked at Greg and back at the bed and than back at Greg.

"I don't know where your mom is." Greg sat down on the bed and started petting the cat's head. Gabriel let him do it for a few minutes and than he jumped off the bed and started searching the apartment for her again. Greg laid down on Jenna's side of the bed, her scent was all over her pillow.

_I can't marry you, I can't be your girlfriend, I can't even be your friend until you figure out what you really want and get some sort of peace with yourself._ He grabbed her pillow and rolled over to his side of the bed and thought. _What do you want?_

_I want her to come home._

_Well that's a start, why did she leave to begin with?_

_Because I lied._

_You know she hated being lied to, if you remember right, the guy she was suppose to marry years ago lied to her when he was in trouble and she found out. This is almost the same thing, you're in trouble and instead of coming to her with it, and you hide it. You never hid things from her before and it was shitty, especially after everything she's done for you the past few months. _Greg hugged the pillow a little tighter and thought back to when this all started in that alley. She had been his last thought, pretty much his only thought after being beaten. She was the only person he had asked for and she was the first person to be with him at the hospital and she stayed with him all night.

_He was starting to wake up again when he heard someone come into his room and walk quietly over to his bed and move a chair close to his bedside. He took a breath and he could smell the sweet scent of sugar and vanilla wash over him, oh god it was her. He felt her wrap her hand in his one that wasn't bandaged and he felt her stroke the un-bandaged part of his head. God it felt so good after all the hell he's gone through tonight. He wanted to drift off to sleep breathing her in._

She had stood by him when most other girlfriends would have run the other way. He couldn't see Tina standing by Warrick if this happened to him.

"_Greg, I know you're tired of me nagging, but I just want you to know that those people in there don't know you like I do, what they say or think doesn't matter. I love you, your parents love you and I'm sure that deep down maybe even Hodges loves you."_

_"Please never say that Hodges loves me again, I think I'm going to be sick with that thought." She kissed his check._

"_Well I love you and that's all that matters."_

God he was a moron, he inhaled the scent of sugar and vanilla a little more and cursed himself. He told himself that wasn't going to be a dick to her anymore and he kept doing it anyway. He just assumed that she had put up with everything else that she could handle his pissy ways on top of it. However she put her foot down and made it clear that she wasn't going to take it anymore.

_I want her home, that's all I want right now I figure out the rest when she comes home._ Greg grabbed his cell phone and speed dialed her cell. It rang six times before it went to her voicemail.

"Jenna please come home please. I'm sorry for everything, I didn't mean for any of this to happen and I just really want you to come home. I really need you to come home, I love you." Greg hung up the phone and put it on his bedside table. He hugged the pillow a little more and dozed off. He was really starting to get to sleep, when he heard the chiming of his phone.

_Shit,_ he fumbled for the phone and it fell off the night stand. When he got a hold of it, the call had went to voicemail.

"Fuck," He started to call into his voicemail.

"You have one missed call. Press six to hear…_god damn it let me have my voice mail. _He felt his heart stop when he heard her voice.

"I know your sorry and that you didn't mean for everything to happen the way it did. I want to come home, I do…but I can't. I need to not be there for awhile…I. I haven't been feeling well for a while now and I feel like there's something wrong with me too and I need to figure out what it is. I still love you too, if I didn't it would be easy to come back and ignore everything. But it's an insult to both us to pretend like nothing has changed, I do love you that was never the issue. Good bye Greg." He hung up the phone and sat down on the floor with his head in his hands. He felt Gabriel rub up against him.

"I know, I miss her too." The cat walked into his lap and laid down. He started to pet the cat and he started to cry. She was the only person who could ever make him cry, he missed her, and he had been so focused on what happened he pushed her away without realizing what he was doing. He had wanted to protect her by keeping her away, all it had done was ruin her.

_Just come home._

Writer's notes- The episode that was referenced was Leaving Las Vegas.

The songs used, in order

Marilyn Manson (S)aint—which in the video that was banned in the US, Eric Szmanda (aka Greg) was in the video.

Seether w/Amy Lee-Broken

Rascall Flatts-What hurts the most

John Mayer-Slow dancing in a burning room

Joni Mitchell-Case of you

Goo Goo Dolls- Let love in

Matchbox 20-Bright Lights

Where is Jenna-you'll be surprised ^-^


	15. I think I left my heart here

I think I left my heart here

April 1998

Stanford, California

Greg was sitting at the picnic next to the parking lot grinning like a moron when Jenna brought him his lunch. She sat the sandwiches down and looked at him.

"What did you do, you have the 'I did something naughty' smirk on your face." Greg pointed to the parking lot and to Barb who was walking around her car studying every inch like her life depended on it.

"I put a note on her car saying 'Sorry I hit your car' and a phone number."

"When did you hit Barb's car?" The smirk got bigger.

"I didn't, no one did." Jenna shook her head and sat down.

"Whose phone number did you give her?" Greg took his sandwich and drink.

"The building manager's home phone."

"Have I told you what an evil little bastard you are?"

"You're telling me right now. Besides we're going to San Francisco in a few weeks and who's going to entertain Barb while we're gone. I can't see Laura freezing Barb's stuff." Jenna grinned.

"I can't see Marv putting his spankables in the filing cabinet for her to find either. Oh my god, when we leave no one will be here to prank her anymore. The thought of Barb being able to work without someone screwing with her worries me. It's sad, it's very sad."

"Well before we go to San Francisco we'll have to leave behind a little instruction manual for those who sit in our desks after us. It will be our parting gift to the office." Jenna started laughing.

"I can see it now: Amuse yourself: Annoy a Barb."

"Perfect!" Greg pulled a notebook from his bag and started scribbling away. "Let's see, we've froze stuff, hidden it, I think we glued some stuff down once. I wrote her office number on a stall on campus and various drunken guys from campus called looking for a good time. What else have we done?"

"Umm, I think we had her convinced that the office was haunted by the ghost of a Mexican missionary, um the wallet prank, we replaced her pens with pencils and than we got rid of the pencils and got her those fat kiddy crayons. Wow, we are horrible people." Greg shrugged.

"We had fun and when we go to San Francisco we'll have even more fun, without Barb there to get mad at our fun or Mitch calling us in to his office."

"Oh really, what do you have planned? If it involves mineral oil I'm all for it." Greg grinned at her.

"It's nice to know your open to new things. Well, I was thinking that after we get all our stuff in the apartment, we could go to the beach and I could finally teach you how to surf, I heard that on a clear day from one of the beaches you can see Alcatraz. How would you feel about visiting the infamous prison?" Jenna eyed him.

"You are a dork."

"But I'm your dork." He took her hand.

"Yes you're my dork." She gave him a smile and looked out to the parking lot. "Hey Barb, what's with that ding in the back of your car?" Barb looked frantic.

"Ding?! There's a ding?!?!"

"Yeah there is a definite ding, can't you see it?" asked Greg. Barb got on her knees and starting looking for the ding."

"I can't see it," she cried.

"Oh there is a definite ding ding there," said Jenna and Greg just put his head in his hands and tried not to laugh.

San Francisco, California-2007

Two days ago

5 am

It was too foggy to see the prison island from the beach, but she knew it was there. She sat down on the blanket she had bought from the vendor on the street and looked out to the Pacific. It was close to sixty degrees, to cold to go in the ocean, but it was still beautiful, the sun was getting ready to rise. She pulled out her cell phone and called Ofilia.

"Hello," said Ofilia.

"Hey."

"Jenna, you're on your honeymoon, why the hell are you calling me?"

"Um, did you fax in my name change papers yet?" She tugged at her hair nervously, it had come out of its ponytail and it was a horrible mess, along with the rest of her.

"I'll fax them around eight when all the offices open up, just relax."

"Shred them, all the paperwork, just shred it. I don't need it." There was a long pause on the other end and Ofilia started talking in Spanish, so the other girls in the kitchen wouldn't understand what was being said.

"Whoa, back up the cart for everyone else here, what's going on?"

"He never showed up."

"WHAT? What do you mean he never showed up, what happened?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Las Vegas

Midnight

Jenna drove out of the Crime Lab parking lot and was surprised that she could still able to see straight. She was so pissed off at him, he lied, for all intents and purposes he stood her up at the alter and she was just suppose to go and see if they could get a new flight and go home and wait for him. He was being so inconsiderate and it was really all she could do to not turn around, go back to the lab and give him a better piece of her mind. She had bent over backwards for him the past few months, she had stepped away from her business when he needed her, was it too much to ask that he step away from his job once in awhile for her? She slammed on the gas petal a little harder and swore at the traffic on the Strip. She leaned over and turned on the CD player, hoping for a little distraction.

_I don't know your thoughts these days  
We're strangers in an empty space  
I don't understand your heart  
It's easier to be apart_

We might as well be strangers in another town  
We might as well be living in a another time  
We might as well  
We might as well  
We might as well be strangers  
Be strangers  
For all I know of you now 

She turned the cd off and kept driving, god damn her head hurt. She would honestly pay someone to put a bullet in her brain if they could get the head ache to stop. She turned into the airport parking lot and had to drive around for another ten minutes for a parking space, simply pissing her off more and adding to the pain in her head, her head hurt so much it was making her sick to her stomach. She got in the line for ticket exchanges and fumed.

_Why are you here?_

_I'm taking the damn tickets back_

_You still want to marry him after that bullshit he pulled today?_ Jenna felt little bands tightening in her chest. Did she really want to go through with getting married?

_He lied to you, he's being lying to you for months now and making you feel like shit for weeks now and it's all because he can't let go of some dead punk in an alley. It wasn't his fault, how many times and how many people have to tell him that before he lets it go and enjoys the fact that he still has a life and stops shutting you out. Than he acts like you're not supposed to be upset about being left waiting for hours or lied too. Hey Jenna, sorry about all the shit, but shrug it off._ She was tired of shrugging everything off, just tired of everything in general. She got up to the counter handed the clerk the tickets and asked for a change of flight.

_God damn you've become such a doormat, why the hell are we taking the tickets back? You planned the trip, just for him and he 'forgets' that we were going away. _The little bands in her chest got tighter and she felt herself getting red in the face and it hurt to breath. The PA system seemed to get louder every second she stood there.

_He forgot that he was supposed to get married, all because of his job. What has his job done for him lately other than fuck him over?_

"Flight 273, from Las Vegas, to San Francisco to Australia will be delayed two hours due to fog delay," called out the PA. Her head was pounding and she just wanted everything to shut up.

_Fucking hell I just need away from here_

"Miss, excuse me miss. Is everything alright?" asked the clerk handing Jenna her tickets.

"Yeah…um that flight, 273 it's delayed. When will it be leaving?" The clerk looked confused, but she typed in what Jenna had asked.

"We hope to have it leave around two thirty this morning."

_Let's go_

_What?_

_You need away from here, how much further away can you get than Australia? Go back to the apartment, drop off his shit, give him back his engagement necklace and the rings and get the hell out of here. _

_What about Greg_

_Fuck Greg, when's the last time he thought of you, he wasn't thinking of you today when you were waiting for him or when he was lying to your face. Look at yourself, you're a wreck and staying here isn't helping him or you, let's just go, now!_

"Hey lady, get your tickets or move," snapped someone behind her.

"Um, the flight to San Francisco to Australia, round trip please," Jenna threw her tickets to Hawaii and her credit card down. The clerk looked at like she was nuts, but she exchanged the tickets and put the reminder on the plastic. Jenna took the ticket and went back to the car and started the drive back the apartment. She didn't remember getting there or throwing Greg's suitcase and carry-on in the bedroom. She didn't notice Gabriel looking at her from the sofa; she didn't realize that she was outside of the Crime lab again until she started digging in her purse for something to write on.

_I can't do this_

_Yes you can…he broke it off when he left you there waiting._ Jenna took off the necklace and put the rings on it. She pulled an old envelope that she had sitting in the glove box that she kept in case she needed to write something down and put the rings in there and the note. _Enjoy your wedding night._ She got out the car and towards the crime lab and ran into Henry, he eyed her.

"You're not going to yell again are you?"

"No…um, could you give this to Judy to give to Greg for me, please?" Henry took the envelope and noticed it was heavy.

"What's in here?" he asked.

"Nothing, just make sure that Judy gives it to him." Henry nodded and went back inside.

Jenna went back to the car and got to the airport around two am. She was surprised that things went so fast and she was in her window seat by 2:15 am. She pulled out her I-Pod and tried to ignore the guy next to her that was talking loudly on his cell phone, he smelled like Axe and Fritos and Jenna was debating if it would be rude to toss her cookies on this guy who wouldn't shut up. She turned the volume up to ear drum splitting levels to drown him out.

_If you, if you could return, don't let it burn, don't let it fade.  
I'm sure I'm not being rude, but it's just your attitude,  
It's tearing me apart, It's ruining everything._

She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the rumble of the plane as it took off. She couldn't believe she was doing this; she griped the armrest a little tighter and wondered if and when he would notice she was gone. She couldn't figure out what had possessed her to go like this, she felt like she had a nervous breakdown back at the airport when she went to get the tickets exchanged and the fight or flight reaction had kicked in.

_I'm tried of fighting, it hasn't gotten us anywhere with Greg. Let's see if flight does._

_Oh, I thought the world of you.  
I thought nothing could go wrong,  
But I was wrong. I was wrong.  
If you, if you could get by, trying not to lie,  
Things wouldn't be so confused and I wouldn't feel so used,  
But you always really knew, I just wanna be with you._

…………………………………………………………………………………….

"So you're leaving the country?" asked Ofilia shocked.

"I don't know if I could get back on the plane with Kenny Tarmack. The lay over is five hours and I'll figure it out than. Just shred the papers and don't tell anyone where I am, not even Greg, because I don't even know where I am really."

"Talk to me, this isn't like you at all."

"I think I may have had a nervous down, I went to get the tickets and I couldn't breathe and my head hurt and I kept getting sick on the plane and I just need to be away for a while. You'll shred those papers for me?" Ofilia sighed.

"I'll shred them myself; call me when you figure out where you're going ok…take care of yourself ok."

"I will." Jenna hung up the cell phone and watched the sun rise.

_Leaving the country is a little extreme don't you think? _Now that she had a second to think, she realized that was a bit more impulsive than she really wanted to be. She looked and the fog was starting to lift and you could make out a small dot miles away from shore. _I can't handle another plane ride with an asshole…besides this is away._

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna was heading back to the airport to cancel the second trip when her cell phone started ringing; she looked at called id and felt her heart skip a little. _Greg._ She let it go to voicemail. _Wow…we've been gone for six hours and he just may have noticed we're gone. It's sad really_. Jenna closed her eyes and dozed off in the cab. _I'll call him back when I'm damn good and ready…let him wait for a change._

When Jenna explained that she wanted to cancel the Australia part of the trip, the clerk looked at Jenna like she was crazy, but she fixed it so that the tickets were round trip from here to Vegas and thankfully the airport hadn't lost her luggage. Jenna got another cab and took it downtown and checked into the Mark Hopkins. The bell boy took her to a room that overlooked Nob Hill and she had a view of the Bay from where her room was located. After she tipped the bell boy, she fell into the King size bed full dressed and passed out.

When she woke up, it was close to five pm, she felt groggy, dirty, and starving. She took a hot shower and that helped with the groggy and dirty feeling. She tried brushing her hair and found that it had horrible knots in it and it took her almost an hour to brush out the waist long mess. She sighed, dinner would have to wait. She decided to do something that she had been debating about for months.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

"You want me to cut it?" asked the woman at the salon a few blocks away from the hotel. She also gave Jenna the 'are you crazy' look. _Maybe I am and I just don't know it yet._

"Yeah, I want you to cut it short."

"I can't do that, it's so pretty," she said touching the still wet hair.

"Look either you cut, I go somewhere else and they cut it, or I cut." The woman sighed in defeat and took Jenna to a chair. "Besides it can go to Locks of Love." The woman put an apron on Jenna and just shook her head.

"It's still sad that I have to do this, I haven't seen hair this nice and unprocessed in years. How short honey?"

"I was thinking up to the shoulders." Jenna told the woman what she wanted and the woman took the scissors out of a cleaning jar and gave Jenna one last look.

"Once I start I can't stop, you sure about this."

"Do it." Jenna winced a little when the scissors made the first snip and she saw a strand fall to the floor.

She had it cut up to her shoulders and the salon lady had it layered so that it would be easy to style. Jenna kept playing with it, she had never had hair this short in her whole life and it was weird. _Just think no more braiding, no more spending almost an hour trying to get it ready, just think of what you'll save in shampoo cost. _Another little voice spoke up from the back of her mind.

_Greg is going to shit when he sees it._ She couldn't count the times she had let him play with her hair and she kept it long just for him. _It's my hair, screw him._ She pulled her phone out of her bag, she had eight missed calls. One was from Ofilia and the other seven were from Greg. She decided to call Ofilia first; she caught a cab and asked if he could take her to Baker's beach. Ofilia answered on the second ring.

"The gringo was at the bakery looking for you this morning. I told him to take a hike," said Ofilia before Jenna could get anything out.

"I'm staying in San Francisco."

"Oh thank god. I was worried that you really had gone off the deep end."

"Well I did something a little extreme that may cause you to think that I've gone off the deep end."

"What?" asked Ofilia sounding frighten.

"I cut my hair, it's short, and it's Chloe from Smallville short." Ofilia screamed and Jenna had to yank the phone away from her ear.

"You're shitting me, god you haven't cut your hair in years."

"And it was time too, I just wanted you to know that I'm safe and I haven't totally lost my mind…yet. I'll be back in two weeks."

"In case you forgot, you're the boss. Take off as much time as you want. If we really get screwed, I'll call you. Just take a vacation; you need one more than anyone else I know. Have fun; don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jenna hung up the phone and had the cab drop her off a block away from the beach and Jenna walked the rest of the way there.

_What are you going to tell him?_

_That I can't do this anymore with him, I can't stand being shut out, and I can't stand being lied to. I'm tried of him not knowing what he wants. If he really wanted to be with me, to move on from what happened that night, he would have been there last night. I can't be with him until he knows what he wants. _It was a little cold on the beach and she wished that she would have remembered to bring a sweater. She plopped down in the sand and she could see the lights from the Golden Gate bridge and something far out in the distance. She deleted all the messages from her voicemail without listening to them, she had a feeling they were all the same anyway. She called his cell phone and listened to the rings.

_Just stay calm_, _one ring, two rings, three…_

Jenna!" he sounded frantic. _Nice to know we can still get a reaction._

"Hi." She took off her shoes and put her feet in the sand.

"Where are you?" He snapped.

"On a beach." She kept her voice calm and just looked out at the ocean, ignoring the fact that her eyes were watering.

"Fucking Christ Jenna! Where? What beach?" screamed Greg. _Oh no you don't get to scream at me after all the bullshit you pulled._

"Don't yell at me."

"Don't yell at you! Do you have any idea how worried I've been about you? I've been home, glued to my phone wondering if you were going to call and if you were alright?"

"Sucks doesn't it." _About time he got a taste of his own medicine. Time after time it's me who's waited, who's worried and it's about time the shoe was on the other foot._

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It sucks to be scared out of your mind, wondering if someone you love is going to be ok. It sucks when they won't be honest with you and tell you what's going on. Good, welcome to what my world has been like for months now." She felt a tear slip and she wiped it away quickly.

"Damn it I told you I was sorry about last night and lying to you. I'm not in the mood for playing games, just tell me where you are and I'll come get you." _Sorry doesn't fix this, and… _

"No, I don't want that. I don't know who you are anymore, you're mean and hostile and I can't be there for you if you don't want me there."

The words were out of her mouth before she realized she was saying them. But they were true, she didn't know him anymore, the person she had fallen for, the person she wanted to marry wasn't him. The person she had been in love with never shut her out, didn't lie to her face, she couldn't be with this person on the phone, it wasn't Greg.

"What the hell does that mean." _Tell him…_

"I can't watch you punish yourself anymore about what happened that night, you've been pushing me away for months now and I just didn't see it until last night. It's like you feel that you don't have the right to be happy because of what happened. I've tried to be there for you, but it's not helping and until you figure out what you want from me and from your life, I can't marry you, I can't be your girlfriend, I can't even be your friend until you figure out what you really want and get some sort of peace with yourself." The other end grew quite and she wondered if he had hung up on her. When he started speaking again, it hurt.

"And what I don't, did you ever think of that?" She sighed, he would rather hang on to a dead kid that was a killer than the life they could of had. _We had a life before him. _

"Yes I did. It hurt me to be without you, but I made it and I can do it again and honestly I would rather be alone than with who you are now. Good bye Greg."

She hung up the phone and tossed it in her purse, she had a feeling it they kept talking it would just make things worse. She looked over to the Golden Gate Bridge, all the lights were on and they were really pretty. She had a feeling she would enjoy them more if she wasn't crying so hard.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

The morning after the phone call, Jenna's head hurt again from all the crying. She dug out a bottle of pain reliever and popped two and broke into the mini fridge for water. She got in the shower and remembered that she had cut her hair and that it only took three minutes to wash her and only five to style it.

_Well, your on vacation…what do you want to do?_ She was a little shocked by that thought, she was heartbroken that things had ended with Greg and she was half tempted to pack her bags, go home and sit on the roof of her bakery with Ofilia with Ben and Jerry's, but something spoke up from the back of her mind.

_Things ended because you wanted to live your life, you wanted to live it with him. He decided that one moment outweighed everything else, including you. You had a life before him, you had family, friends, we were lonely but we weren't alone. You still have family and friends. Come on, Jen are you going to let this moment outweigh all the others that have yet to happen._

_No._

_Then bitch get dressed, you're going out. _

………………………………………………………………………………………………

She spent her first real day of vacation in Little Italy and she loved the hell out of it. She even did the tourist trap stuff that she told most people to avoid when in Vegas. She coughed up close to sixty dollars for a guided tour of where to eat when in Little Italy, granted some of the tour was a rip off, she already knew how to roast coffee and how chocolate was made, but the free food was worth it. She spent hours in Washington Park, just people watching and she ended up with a pain in her lower back and cursing her choice in footwear after walking for nearly six hours, but it was worth it to see Saints Peter and Paul Church, Coit Tower and The Filbert Steps.

She didn't go back to the hotel until almost one am. She took off her shoes and when to take a shower when her cell phone went off. She looked at the caller id and felt her heart sink, it was Greg. She couldn't make herself answer it, she had a feeling that if he did want a fight, wouldn't he call at one am, unless he had taken up drunk dialing. She let it go to voicemail, she took her shower and wrapped herself up in the fuzzy hotel bathrobe. She stared at the phone for she didn't know how long, she picked it up and dialed her voicemail. She felt the slightly good mood she had dissolve in a second when she heard his voice.

"Jenna please come home please. I'm sorry for everything, I didn't mean for any of this to happen and I just really want you to come home. I really need you to come home, I love you."

She deleted the message and started crying, it would be easy to go home and go back to him, but it wasn't right. She wanted to go home, but somewhere deep down she knew if she went back now, he wouldn't learn, it would be alright for awhile and than he would go back to who stood her up at the alter two days ago. She couldn't deal with that anymore, she was tired physically, and emotionally she was exhausted with Greg. She knew that deep down he was sorry for this, but she couldn't pretend that nothing had changed between them, everything had changed between them. She sighed and dialed his number and she was thankful that she had gotten his voicemail and left a message for him. Trying to sum of all her thoughts from the past few months.

"I know your sorry and that you didn't mean for everything to happen the way it did. I want to come home, I do…but I can't. I need to not be there for awhile…I. I haven't been feeling well for a while now and I feel like there's something wrong with me too and I need to figure out what it is. I still love you too, if I didn't it would be easy to come back and ignore everything. But it's an insult to both us to pretend like nothing has changed, I do love you that was never the issue. Good bye Greg." She turned off her phone after that and went to sleep.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

She realized that she overloaded on her first day of vacation and slowed down a bit. She spent a lot of time on the beach, she went running everyday she still couldn't run as long as she would have liked, but she still did it. It cleared her head, she knew she still loved Greg, some part of her would always love him, but she just didn't know what to do with him. She sat down on Baker's beach, she really liked this part of the beach. You could see the Golden Gate Bridge from here. She bit into a bagel that she had bought from a vendor and ignored the gulls circling her.

She stretched and looked out over the ocean. She had been here for about four days and she was starting to feel a little better, the head aches had stopped and she was sleeping a lot better. She finished her bagel and headed back to the hotel to change and get her rental car, she had decided to pay some old friends a visit while she was here.

The drive to Stanford was easy, it was less than an hour from where she had been staying in San Francisco. She pulled into the parking lot of the office where she worked years ago and wasn't really surprised to see how little it had changed. She parked and saw that Tony still sat in the front watching people come and go. He looked up for a second, than did a double take.

"Well I'll be damned, look what the cat brought in." He stood up and hugged her. "How you doing sunshine?"

"I'm fine, I wanted to see if my special friend was still here." Tony patted her head.

"She won't leave, maybe seeing you here will get her to retire. Please get her to retire, she's even crankier than when you and your partner in crime worked here. Well, you should meet the duo who's taken up your cause." He made her sign in and put on a visitor pass and she went up to the fourth floor. The layout of the office hadn't changed that much either. She went over to the HR and looked around, she spotted Laura right away. She tip toed over and tapped her on the shoulder. Laura turned around and her eyes got wide.

"Oh sweetheart," she stood up and hugged her. "How are you, oh my god your hair." Laura ran her hands through Jenna's hair. "You look so pretty, were is your other half?" Jenna shook her head.

"He's working right now." Laura gave her a look.

"Well, I'll just show you around than." Laura took over to the area where Jenna used to work and Marv was typing away.

"I could really use a mini candy bar right now," said Jenna. Marv turned around and grinned.

"Well I knew you be back sooner or later. I knew that bakery business wouldn't work out. Sorry you can't have your old desk back." Jenna bent down and hugged him.

"Yeah, I figured that I would always have a job here. Do I have to fill out an application or…" Mitch came flying at her from nowhere and pulled her into a bear hug.

"Oh I missed you so much, you always made the best cakes and if you want your job back you can have it."

"Mitch, your hurting my spleen," said Jenna easing out of his hug. "Thanks but no thanks, I'm just on vacation for now. I have my own business back home."

"Well I have to head out, can you behave yourself?" asked Mitch.

"I didn't freeze anything," said Jenna. Mitch hugged her again and left. Marv stood up.

"Come on let me get you some coffee." Jenna followed him to the break room and noticed two people huddled around a laptop. They were both from Stanford, one was a girl with long blond hair and she was typing on the laptop, a guy with black hair and a crew cut was behind her.

"She breeds dogs…dog like obedience," suggested the guy.

"Loyal as a puppy," said the girl and they both started laughing and she typed it in. Marv looked over at the pair and tried to look serious.

"What are you two up to now?" The guy shrugged.

"Nothing, we're just helping Barb improve her career choices. Hopeful with something located in Canada." Jenna looked over at the computer; was up and several other tabs had job finding sites on them.

"We've put her up on Monster, Careerbuilder, Hot Jobs and Craigslist. Mostly looking for jobs out of state, out of the country somewhere that isn't here," said the girl. Marv shook his head.

"Pete, Nikki this is Jenna Bianchi she used to work here ages ago…I'm sure you're familiar with her work though. I'll let you kids chat. Marv left them and Pete and Nikki were looking at Jenna with awe.

"You're Bianchi…oh my god it is an honor to met you." Pete shook her hand and Nikki shook her head.

"We love your notebook," said Nikki sending out Barb's job qualifications.

"Notebook?" asked Jenna. Pete pulled out an old composition notebook that seemed to be falling apart.

"The Bianchi and Sanders guild to screwing around, Nikki found it in her desk one day and it inspired us. We've been adding to it actually." Pete handed her the notebook and Jenna smiled, she thought he had been joking about leaving a record of their crimes.

"Oh my god," she started flipping through the pages and smiled. "Did you have a séance for Father Lopez on All Saints Day?"

"Oh yeah, he spoke to us too, told us that we should respect the fourth stair leading up to the fifth floor. Barb couldn't figure out if he meant the fourth step going up or coming down, so she prayed on both of them," said Nikki. Jenna started laughing.

"You guys are the ones who put her stuff in the vending machine. Laura sent me a photo that was great."

"Nah we're just the Fred and George, you and Sanders are like the original Marauders," said Nikki, Pete just looked at her.

"Did you just make a Harry Potter reference?" asked Pete.

"Yeah."

"God you're a nerd." Jenna felt her throat tighten and she handed the notebook back to them.

"So where do guys sit?" Nikki closed the laptop and they took her back out to the office. Nikki sat in Greg's old desk and Pete sat in her old desk.

_Jenna found a desk close to hers and got Greg set up. "This will do for now, when I'm done training you though you can move to another desk." _

_"But what if I like this one?" he asked falling into the chair. "I get a good vibe from this desk."_

_"Than you can stay right there. I have lunch at noon; you wanna grab some pizza with me? I can tell you all the really important things about working here. Like if you ever get a craving for mini candy bars, go see Marv, he has everything in his bottom left drawer._

"_Sure," said Greg._ Jenna shook her head and looked at her watch, it was almost noon.

"How about I treat you guys to lunch…maybe even a prank if you're good," said Jenna.

"We would love to see a master at work," said Pete.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Barb came into the office after lunch and eyed Jenna.

"Well bad pennies always turn up, I never thought I would see you again." Jenna was sitting next to Pete and Nikki and sipping some water.

"And hello to you too Barb. I'm just visiting, I won't be staying."

"Good," she stomped off and Nikki's phone rang, she answered it and grinned.

"Why yes I will transfer you to our boss Mitch McGee," she waved at Pete and transferred the call to him.

"Mitch McGee, why yes Barb Leeds is a great worker, she's a hard worker, she the best ever. If you hire her and she doesn't exceed all your wildest dreams of what a worker should do, I'll fire myself. No thank you sir." Pete hung up the phone and all three started laughing.

"Where was it from?" asked Jenna.

"New England," said Nikki. Jenna shook her head and finished writing the note.

"Well, I'm going to put this note on her car and you can watch her freak out when it's time to leave. I should get going, it was nice meeting you guys."

"Oh you have to stay a little bit longer, the campus is having this winter fair and you should check it out. Marv and Laura are going with us. Please you can tell us about Sanders," said Pete. Jenna twisted a strand of hair.

"I don't know I'm a little tired." Marv leaned over.

"Laura would like to visit a little more; you could always sleep over at our house if you get to tired to drive back."

"What the hell, if I remember right the Frat house boys put on a good show during the winter fair?"

"They reenacted the Full Monty last year," said Nikki.

"I'm in," said Jenna.

"God did you see her face trying to find that dent that wasn't there. It was great," said Pete.

Jenna felt a little like a fifth wheel here with the two couples, she wondered if this had been such a good idea, her head was starting to hurt again and it was one those that made her sick to her stomach and all the deep fried food smells weren't helping. They were walking around the campus/fair grounds trying to figure out what to ride.

"How about that?" asked Nikki pointing at the tilt a whirl.

"I'll get sick," said Marv. They group kept fighting over what to ride when Jenna spotted it.

"How about that?" she asked, the group looked it was bungee jump, it was about fifty foot drop, a guy was doing it right now and screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Hell no," said Laura.

"I want to do it," said Jenna and she started walking towards the jump.

"Have you lost your mind?" asked Marv. Nikki and Pete just watched in shock. Jenna gave the guy running the jump five dollars, handed Laura her purse and got on the lift that went up. It wasn't so bad up here, the noise and smells of the fair were gone and she felt her head ache start to lessen. The guy strapped her into a harness that would pull her up when she was finished. She looked down and realized what she was about to do and it was scary. Looking down fifty feet was a whole lot different than looking up; the guy seemed to be reading her mind.

"Just relax, hold on to the rail, we don't want you jumping to soon." She took the rail and he opened the rail where she was supposed to jump. He stepped aside and Jenna braced herself with the two hand rails on either side. She froze, she couldn't let go and she felt herself go cold.

"Come all you have to do is let go," said the guy. When she heard that, it was like several light bulbs went off in her head.

"Your right." She took a deep breath and let go of the hand rails. For a second she didn't think the harness would catch her, but it did and she knew what she had to do.

_I have to go home, I have to go back to Vegas…we both hold on to things that we just need to let go of, it's not shrugging it off, it's forgiveness. Oh my god, it all makes sense…oh my god why didn't I see it before._ The jump was finished before Jenna realized it was done and the guys were pulling her up and taking her back down in the crane.

"Oh my god! Laura did you see that? Wasn't it freaking great? God I feel really good right now." She looked at Pete, "Do you love her?" Pete looked shocked and Nikki blushed. "Because if you do, don't fuck around. Don't waste time playing games, and things aren't always going to be easy, in fact there are times when it's really gonna suck ass, but you have to stick it out." Jenna felt herself getting lighted head. "What I mean is, don't give up on each other…I need to sit down."

"Honey," Jenna didn't hear anything after Marv called her honey, the world went black.

Notes-I had written a chapter where Jenna went to Australia, it was my friend's idea. It would be the last place anyone would think to look. But than MKhigh-865 gave me an idea in a review and I went with it. So I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

You can really go on a food tour of San Francisco, I looked it up.

The songs

Keane: We might as well be strangers

Cranberries: Linger


	16. Surprises at home

Surprises at home

Greg headed to the kitchen to pour himself some coffee and Jenna was sitting on the floor playing with a puppy.

"You want the ball go get the ball." She tossed the ball and the puppy ran after it and caught it. The puppy brought the ball back and Jenna started petting it.

"What's that?" asked Greg, Jenna rolled her eyes and picked the puppy up.

"You know for someone who graduated Phi Beta Kappa you're kind of a moron at times. This is a beagle puppy; I think I want to name him Paco. How's that sound, can I call you Paco?" The puppy yipped at her and Jenna gave it a hug.

"Why didn't you ask me if we could have a dog?" Greg sat down next to her and she moved away a little bit.

"It's not like you would have noticed, your not here anyway." She turned her attention back to the puppy and Greg tried to ignore that little twist of hurt.

"I'm here, I try, and I just wish you would have asked me if I wanted a puppy." Jenna just gave him a look.

"Maybe I wanted it for me did you ever think of that? Why is it always about you and what you want, maybe I want something too." Greg went to touch her.

"I'm sorry." She stood up and walked away with the puppy.

"I have to take the puppy for a walk now; when I come home you'll be at work so have a good night." She went for door and he knew he had to stop her from walking out that door.

"Jen," he got an inch away from her when the alarm went off. _Fuck._

Greg reached over and turned off the cell phone alarm. He got off the couch and popped his neck, he had been sleeping on the couch for about five days now and it was murder on his neck and back. However, he couldn't sleep in their bed her scent was all over the sheets and pillows. He tried changing the sheets and it didn't help, the scent was still there. He left the blankets on the sofa and headed for the shower, Gabriel was sleeping on the bed, the meowing and crying was still on going, Greg had taken to wearing noise canceling headphones when he was home to block the cat out.

He wasn't mad at the cat anymore, he understood how the cat felt, and they both missed her. Greg knew he could have easily found her if he wanted to, having a trace put on her credit cards would have been easy, but it was a dirty thing to do, she was an adult who made it clear that she needed time away from him plus it was abusing his job title. Gabriel woke up and followed him into the bathroom and sat by the door. Greg smiled, the cat had done this with Jenna when she got ready for work, she called it shower duty.

_He's on guard;_ he could almost hear her voice in the back of his mind. He got into the shower and got ready for work. He had just finished a double shift about six hours ago but he told Catherine and Keppler that he would come back in later on tonight. He got dressed and poked in the fridge and realized that he would have to go food shopping later on. He looked around the apartment and noticed it was a mess, he had been pulling doubles and even triples to avoid being here, the apartment felt empty without her here. _She's here though, you can smell her in the sheets, you hear her voice, she's in your thoughts. _Greg slammed the fridge door shut and was thankful that he hadn't run out of coffee yet. He almost forgot that Gabriel needed water; he filled the cat's water bowl and dumped the last of the cat food in a bowl. Gabriel rubbed against Greg and started munching on his breakfast. Greg shook his head and started petting the cat.

"You know for a fuzzy ball, you're not half bad."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg realized he wasn't the only one working doubles and triples, with Grissom gone Sara was working even more hours than he was. Sara was chugging a Red Bull like her life depended on it and he could still see the bags under her eyes.

"So did you go shopping?" asked Greg.

"Huh?" asked Sara trying to hide a yawn.

"You got fifty dollars worth of baggage under your eyes," said Greg pouring another cup of coffee, Sara rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you leave here less than eight hours ago?"

"Alright you caught me; I've become an even bigger workaholic." Sara sighed and tossed the can into the trash.

"No cure like it, you still looking for Dell relatives?"

"I'm going to send out the last of the e-mails tonight. So far nothing has come back."

"Well, I'm going to bug Hodges to see if he has the trace from my hit and run. See you later." Greg finished his coffee and went to busy himself. _It's easier this way, drowning yourself in the job, you don't see what you're missing._

Sofia poked her head in the layout room Greg was working in.

"Hey how would you feel about coming with me and Sara and looking at a DB in a sleazy motel?" Greg looked away from the monitor.

"I'm getting a serious case of trucker's butt here, what do you think?" Sofia tossed him a set of car keys.

"Saddle up than."

The hotel was a nice version of a crack house; Greg was given the car while Sara worked the room upstairs. It was a silver Corvette; Greg checked the car for any bumps or damage and didn't find any, other than the duct tape on the roof of the car. He reached inside the glove box and looked for paperwork to see who the car used to belong to.

"The registration is expired," he said handing the paperwork to Sofia.

"Monique Carter, 155 North Court, Henderson." Greg raised an eyebrow.

"That's a nice neighborhood, and this used to be a nice car. Maybe she traded in her old life to ride the H train." Sofia shrugged.

"Well the manager wants it out of here. I'll have it towed back to the lab."

"I'll follow it home," said Greg, Sara came out the room.

"I'll help you process it when I get back, this shouldn't take much longer…most of what's in there is trash." Greg nodded and helped Sara with the room until the tow truck came.

The car was a mess; Sara took the trunk while Greg was working the backseat.

"So, have you heard from Grissom?" asked Greg, they were the only ones in the garage and everyone else was on a case out of the lab.

"He sent me a package; it had a chrysalis in it." Greg looked over the backseat at her.

"He sent you a bug, why am I not surprised?"

"It's Grissom. So can I ask if you've heard from Jenna?" Greg sighed.

"Not since her phone call almost four days ago." He got quite and dug some more fast food bags out from under the seat.

"You know, if you want I could ask Archie to look at her phone records, give you something to work with." He looked up from the back seat again.

"Wouldn't you call that stalking?" Sara bit her lip.

"If you weren't my friend…than yeah it's stalking. Sorry, I know how you feel; at least I know where mine is." Greg dug some more bags out and some fries.

"It's the retarded stuff I miss." Sara moved to help him with the back seat.

"Define retarded stuff?"

"You won't mock me?"

"Greg, my significant other sends me bugs without a letter explaining why he sent it. I can't mock anyone; I am in no position to mock anyone in this world." He sighed and tossed another wad of trash into a bag.

"She would always set the coffee pot up for me so all I would was set the timer and I had fresh coffee waiting for me. She would let me wake her up in the middle of the night if I got home early and I had a shitty night and just listen to me talk. She would sing the most random things while doing stuff around the house. I miss the retarded stuff like that." Sara gave him a smile.

"That's not retard stuff; it's what made up your relationship." She moved the front seat and Greg followed and they started to focus on the case. Sara pulled out the print dust and started to collect.

"Seat is pushed all the way back," noted Sara.

"The manager said he saw a guy driving the car," said Greg digging out more trash, he noticed a letter buried under all the trash and skimmed through it. "She was a lawyer, suspended for failure to pay her Bar Association dues." Sara nodded.

"Lose all that to drugs, you got to be in a lot of pain."

"Or think your too smart to get addicted," said Greg placing the letter in another baggie. Nick walked into the garage looking really annoyed.

"Have you guys seen Catherine? She's not answering her cell?"

"Nope," said Sara placing her collected prints aside.

"Anything from your scene relate back to the Zamesca case?" asked Nick, referring to a case a few days ago involving Assemblyman Danilo Zamesca who was shot in the desert. Sara looked confused.

"No why would it?"

"Because I think your DB is the unknown lady in the photo I found at the other scene." _God the world does get smaller everyday._ Nick looked at the ripped up driver's seat and grinned.

"And we found the same type of material at the Zamesca scene. If we can match it back to this car…" Greg finished his thought.

"We could place it at your scene."

"Along with Thomas Simon," said Nick. Sara grinned.

"Don't you love it when the stars line up just right?" Greg started singing to himself

"It's a small world after all."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna fished out her house keys and took a deep breath before opening the door. It was close to one in the afternoon she wondered if he was sleeping. _Stop stalling and go inside._ She unlocked the door and wheeled her suitcase inside, the apartment was empty.

"Greg," she called out tentatively, nothing. She shut the door behind her and locked it. She sat down her duffle bag and walked towards the bedroom, it was empty and it looked like he hadn't been slept in for awhile. Gabriel jumped off the bed and walked over to her slowly; Jenna got down on the floor and held out her hand.

"Hi baby." Gabriel sniffed her hand and started to head butt her hand. Jenna picked him up and started to pet him. He started chewing on her hair and Jenna grinned. "I missed you too baby."

She sat the cat down on the bed and started look around the apartment and frowned. Even when they hadn't been living together, Greg hadn't been a slob, his apartment was cluttered, but it was an organized chaos. She looked around, clothes everywhere, dishes piled up, she looked and noticed his pillow and a blanket on the sofa, the trash hadn't been taken out and in general it was just a mess. She looked in the fridge for something to drink and noticed that was empty too. She was really worried now, what was this, his way of saying that he wasn't willing to give things another shot. She sighed and started picking up the sheets and blankets off the sofa.

_Welcome home Jen. _She tossed the sheets and blankets in a pile and went back for her suitcases to add her things to the wash and unpack. She bit her lip, maybe this really was it for them? She shook her head and realized that she had been a moron, but she realized now that leaving had been a good thing, it made her see what she really wanted and she realized now that it was part self preservation that made her leave. She had been a moron; all the signs were there, her head aches, not having any energy, the way she felt. She sighed; she wondered how he would deal with it when she told him what she had found out while she was in California. She had called her mom first thing and told her everything that had happened with Greg and what the doctors had told her. Her mother told her that she would come home sooner if Jenna needed her to. She couldn't tell Greg over the phone, she needed to tell him this in person. She tossed a load of whites in the wash and started on the dishes.

_He'll come home sooner or later._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg had been working the Carter case for a few hours when Nick came into the layout room.

"Hey Greggo, I need to have a word with you outside." Greg sighed and put the file aside. He hadn't realized that it was close to six and that it was freezing outside. Nick, Warrick and Sara were huddled out front and Sara was shivering.

"Hey it's freezing why are we having a meeting outside?" asked Sara.

"Because Catherine and Keppler are in there," said Nick with disgust. Greg laughed.

"Have you guys been listening to Hodges?" Hodges was convinced that Keppler was here to spy on them and hand them over to the Under Sheriff. Sara started laughing and Nick looked really annoyed.

"No this is about Catherine having a false confession and standing by it." _Damn Nick is pissed. _Greg knew one thing about Nick Stokes and that it was he was loyal to the team above everything else and for him to bash Catherine like that was serious. Warrick gave him a look.

"You better be able to back that up." Greg looked at Nick and waited.

"Zamesca knew Greg and Sara's DB, he's dead, she's dead and the same drugs are found at both scenes and than the same drugs are found at your crime scene," said Nick to Warrick and Warrick gave Nick a warning look.

"We see that all the time, same dealer," suggested Warrick. Sara looked worried and looked around.

"You know, Catherine ordered Henry to step out of his lab without putting away drug evidence away."

"Why would she do that?" asked Greg, Catherine always followed the rules, she was almost worst than Grissom in some ways about the rules. Warrick started to look worried now.

"I did see Keppler checking out Zamesca's file, I didn't think anything of it than, but now."

"Ok so maybe we have an IA investigation?" suggested Sara. Nick sighed.

"I can't find the Holstein evidence." Greg was shocked, the Holstein case was huge and they had tied that guy to the Zamesca murder, without that evidence they were in serious trouble. Sara voiced his thoughts.

"What?"

"Catherine put in a temporary locker," said Warrick defending Catherine.

"Yeah well while didn't she put where it belonged?" Nick had a point, anything that went a temporary locker didn't stay there longer than an hour before it went to the real evidence room. The case was over seven hours old and still in a temporary locker that was never a good sign. Warrick than told the group about how a bullet from the scene had come back clean and that Keppler didn't seem to care and that it would show up in autopsy. Nick laughed.

"It's a little hard to have an autopsy when you don't have a body. Robbins is looking for it and the mortuary has no record of Catherine calling them for pick up." _Shit…body losing is never good. _

"Do we have anything of the Holstein case?" asked Sara slightly freaked.

"We have the car…no Catherine sent it to the impound."

"Well at least we no where it is," said Greg not liking where this was going, he trusted Catherine, he couldn't imagine her trying to screw them over. Nick was livid and he looked around.

"All right that's it we're a team the four of us. We can't trust Catherine and we can't trust Keppler." Greg looked at him like he was crazy. "I'm serious, I'm gonna roll with this." Nick looked at Warrick.

"I'll roll with you." Warrick looked at Sara.

"I'm in." All three of them looked at Greg and he recalled when he was back in middle school and he got cornered by three football players for answers to a math test and knew he better go with this, he wouldn't fit into his locker now, but he knew that Nick and Warrick could make his life just as unpleasant.

"I'm in." _Catherine wouldn't screw us over, she knows us better than that._

It was almost Mission Impossible what the four of them were doing, Nick went to the impound for the car, leaving the three of them at the lab. Sara went into Grissom's office and swiped his temporary locker key from his desk and the three of them went into the temporary locker room and pulled the evidence. They ignored everything that Warrick did and focused on everything else. The window hadn't been shot out; it had been broken in that was the first glaring red flag. The second red flag was Nick calling from the impound reporting that for a shot going through the head, it was odd that there were no brains or bone anywhere. Greg couldn't believe this, Catherine was playing head games with them. The final straw was when Nick reported that the blood in the car was donated blood, not blood from a gun shot to the head.

"Why would she do that, fake a crime scene?" asked Greg it was damn near an insult to think that they wouldn't figure it out.

"I don't know boredom?" suggested Sara. "Maybe it was a live action game of Clue and we missed the memo." She was fuming too, this was a waste of time to make them process this fake crime scene and lead them around like this. They went into the break room where Nick was sitting on the counter and fuming.

"I knew something was up. This is crap and I'm half tempted to go to IA and report this." Greg kept his mouth shut, he was pissed at Catherine but he wanted to hear why she put them through the paces like this. Warrick walked in and sat down.

"I called them on it, Cat and Keppler will be here soon."

"Good," said Nick pacing the room. Catherine and Keppler walked in and Catherine looked horribly ashamed, like a kid who got busted for taking cookies out of the jar. Keppler looked mildly upset and he sat down and started talking.

When we realized that we couldn't get Thomas Simon the normal way with him being on the run, we decided to use a new tool to lure him out in the open. It's called reverse forensics." _Sounds retarded to me._

"Reverse forensics?" repeated Greg looking at Catherine.

"Simon had to believe it when he saw it on the news," said Catherine.

"And your only option was to fake a crime scene and have me run it?" asked Warrick highly annoyed.

"How could you think that we wouldn't figure it? It's kind of what we do," said Greg. He was really pissed; it was bullshit on Catherine's part to think that they wouldn't do it. The night shift had the highest conviction rate of all the CSI teams and to think this would trip them up was an insult.

"I understand how you all feel, I am sorry I did not have a choice." Sara rolled her eyes and Nick glared.

"We trust you with our lives everyday. You could have trusted us with this," said Nick. Catherine nodded and looked at Sara; Sara gave Catherine a tight grin.

"If I have something to say to you Catherine, I'm gonna say it in private. No offense," she looked over at Keppler. Catherine sighed and told them they couldn't get him for the Zamesca, but they could still get him for Carter if they all worked together. Greg went back to the layout room and handed Catherine the report on Carter's cell phone records and how Simon had used the cell phone to call his strip club and his wife from that cell phone while Carter was dead on the floor.

"Thanks Greg," said Catherine.

"Whatever Catherine, I've pulled three doubles and a triple, I'm taking tomorrow off."

"I am really sorry that I lied," said Catherine taking the report and heading off to find Brass. Greg sighed and headed to his car and started to drive home. He was tired; it was bullshit on Catherine's part to do that.

_Sucks when someone you trust lies like that._ Greg sighed; he wasn't in the mood to fight with himself. He turned on the radio and turned it up.

_If you just walked away_

_What could I really say?_

_Would it matter anyway?_

_Would it change how you feel?_

I am the mess you choose

_The closet you cannot close_

_The devil in you I suppose_

_Cause the wounds never heal_

_You know if Jenna was home she would laugh her ass off at the four of you playing super spies._

_Sometimes the things I say_

_In moments of disarray_

_Succumbing to the games we play_

_To make sure that it's real._

But everything changes if I could

_turn back the years, If you could_

_learn to forgive me, then I could learn to feel_

Greg sighed and pulled into his parking space at the apartment and headed up the apartment. He was so tired that he thought he was hearing a song in his head, than he realized that it was coming from inside his apartment.

_I want to tell if I am or am not myself  
It's hard to know how far or if at all could go  
Waiting far too long for something I forgot was wrong  
I don't know all the answers I think that I'll find  
Or have it within the time but it's all that I'll have in mind  
Until I fall away_

_No…_He unlocked the door and a woman with short brown hair was folding towels with her back to him and she was singing softly.

_My fear pretend that I'll never be in love again  
It's real to me but not like these fools and not like this scene  
I won't find or have it within the time  
If it's all rusted and fade in the spot where we fell  
Where I thought I'd left behind  
It's loose now but we could try  
Until I fall away  
I won't keep us waiting long  
Until I fall away  
I don't know what to do anymore  
Until I fall away..._

"Jenna?" She turned around and looked at him and shrugged.

"I'm home," she said softly. Greg felt his breath catch in his throat and he didn't realize that he could feel so many conflicting emotions at once.

_Relief, rage, hurt, joy, happy, sad._ He looked at her again and was shocked.

"You cut your hair?" She had chopped her hair off, she was able to sit on it before she left and now it was up to her neck. He loved her hair, couldn't count the times he had played with it, buried his face it, ran his hands through it when he was making love her to. It was almost like a slap in the face to see it was gone.

"Yeah." He walked over to her slowly, he wondered if he had really pulled too many shifts and he was dreaming again.

She dropped the towel she had been folding and stood there, staring at him. He stood in front of her and ran a hand through her hair it was still soft and fine. _No you're not dreaming. _He moved his hands down to her face, her neck, and her arms. Jenna looked up at him and his grip tightened on her arms. It was her and suddenly all feelings he had came to surface, all the hurt, the angry and the loneness floored him. He dug his fingers into her arms and he pushed her towards a wall and held her there. Her head hit the wall and he felt her wince slightly.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again! You have no idea how out of my mind I was worried about you. I know I've acted like a prick towards you. I know I've been a selfish son of bitch and that I've ignored you, but I didn't deserve you bailing on me, not like that. If you wanted to hurt me, congratulations you succeeded. You wanted my attention, you have my undivided attention right now. Just don't ever do that to me again!" His grip had gotten painfully tight on her arms and she nodded.

"Your hurting my arms," she said softly looking down at his hands and back up at him. He realized how easy it would of have been to really hurt her physically, she was a good five inches shorter than him and about twenty five pounds lighter than he was. He stepped away from her shaking, sat down on the floor and put his head in his hands.

"You were the one thing that kept me going, and it hurt so much when you left and I…" he couldn't find words to describe what her not being here did to him. Jenna slide down to the floor and sat across from him.

"I'm sorry." He took one of her hands in his and she pulled him into a hug. He wanted to bury his face in her hair, he had to settle for her shoulder and tee shirt.

"I'm just really tired," said Greg.

"Let's go to bed, we'll talk later." They helped each other off the floor and Jenna led him into the bedroom. Jenna changed into a night shirt and Greg stripped down to his boxers and tee shirt and he crawled into bed and Jenna followed him. They laid there facing each other, Greg reached out and toyed with what was left of her hair.

"I tried to sleep in here while you were gone, and I couldn't. I could smell you in the sheets, all over the apartment. I missed you."

"I missed you too. Jenna moved a little closer to him and he pulled her close to him.

"Don't leave again."

"I won't." She put her head on his chest and closed her eyes and both of them fell asleep.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg woke up a few hours later and could smell coffee brewing and the sounds of the radio. He looked over to Jenna's side of the bed and it was empty, but he could hear her talking to Gabriel. Greg got out of bed and went into the living room, she was on the sofa petting the cat and talking to him.

"Did you miss me baby? I missed you." The cat walked on Jenna's leg and settled on her hip and started purring. Greg reached over the back of the sofa and started petting the cat on the head. Jenna turned her head and looked at him.

"Hey." She moved the cat off her hip and sat up so he could sit down also.

"Hey," Greg sat down next to her and Gabriel jumped into his lap and started purring. "He missed you too, he would paw at your side of the bed and meow at it and than he would walk around the house just pawing at the shut doors and meowing for you. I ended up wearing noise canceling headphones just to drown him out." Jenna gave him a small smile.

"I told you he was a big baby." She got very quite and bit her lip. "We need to talk, I guess. Do you want some coffee, I went shopping before you came home."

"Coffee would be nice." Jenna got up and poured him a cup and got herself a glass of water and sat back down.

_I wont talk  
I wont breathe  
I wont move till you finally see  
That you belong with me_

You might think I don't look  
But deep inside  
In the corner of my mind  
I'm attached to you  
I'm weak  
Its true  
Cuz I'm afraid to know the answer  
Do you want me too?

"Umm…I don't know where to start," said Jenna.

"You could start by what the hell were you thinking when you took off like?" asked Greg. It came out harsher than he meant it too and Jenna looked at him.

"If you really want to work this out, don't snap at me. Talk to me like an adult who you're in a relationship with, someone who you're supposed to be in love with."

"I'm sorry." Jenna sighed and took a sip of her water.

"I wasn't really thinking when I left. I went to take the tickets back and I don't really know what happened. I was just so pissed off, with everything and hurt that you stood me up and that you hid things from me. It really hurt when you said that it wasn't my business, the last time I checked I was apart of your life and that you wanted me in your life. When you said that…it was kind of clear that it wasn't what you wanted. And I was standing in that line and I lost it…I couldn't breath and I knew that I needed to get away, I knew that if I stayed here, I was going to lose it. It was really self preservation if you think about it."

"Where did you go, what do you do?"

"I went to San Francisco. I did tourist trap stuff, went running on the beach everyday. I went to Stanford. I saw Laura and Marv, helped two crazy kids that found your notebook prank Barb. I went bungee jumping." Greg's eyes got wide and she gave him a small smile.

"You went bungee jumping? I thought cutting your hair was drastic." Jenna tucked some hair behind her ear.

"I just needed to do it, it will grow back." Greg reached out and toyed with it.

"It's cute, a really drastic change, but I'll get used to it." Jenna took a sip of her water and sighed.

_You don't know what you do  
Every time you walk into the room  
I'm afraid to move  
I'm weak  
It's true  
I'm just scared to know the ending_

"Can I ask you something?" asked Jenna, Greg nodded. "How did it feel when I wouldn't tell you where I was, when I wouldn't let you in?" Greg sighed and sipped his coffee trying to figure out how to describe what being lonely in hell was like.

"At first, I was pissed off, I was worried about you. Where were you, if you were ok. Than I just missed you, I missed coming home and knowing that you would be here. I missed your voice, your laugh, I just missed knowing that at the end of the day you would be here. And when you weren't here, I was just lost, you kept me going and when you left, it was just putting one foot in front of the other." Jenna nodded and took one of his hands.

"I've been feeling lost for months Greg. You wouldn't let me in and I was really tried of being shut out," she took a deep breath before continuing. "Greg I was tried of seeing you punish yourself for something you had no control over." He looked at her.

"Jen, I killed someone. I took someone's life, he had family and friends and from what I heard at the inquest a future and I took that from him."

"He was in an alley with a group of punks who were trying to beat a man to death. He had a chance to save himself, instead he chose to try to take another life, either yours or Stanley Tanner's. I don't care if he had the cure for cancer, he was willing to kill someone instead of saving himself. You were willing to give your life to save someone else's. I would rather have a person like that in the world than someone who was willing to take another, even if he had a 3.6 GPA." Jenna broke down in tears and Greg pulled her close and tried to shush her. "I almost lost you to a group of punks and now you're letting a dead on ruin your life and I couldn't watch it anymore." Greg wiped away one of her tears and kissed her forehead.

"I won't let it anymore, I didn't see how I was hurting you till you left. I'm sorry I hurt you and that I shut you out. I realized that when you left, that until this happened I never kept anything from you, that's who we are. Everything that we have is based on the fact that we've always told each other everything, when I stopped doing that and pulled away, what we had, the connection was gone. I love you too much to hurt you anymore, I couldn't stand what it was like when I thought I lost you for good, that I lost what kept us connected." Jenna crawled into his lap and buried her face in his shoulder.

"We were still connected, we just didn't know it." She took his right hand and placed it close to her abdomen and pressed down. "The doctor in Stanford pegged me at about eight weeks." Greg looked at her shocked.

_I've waited all my life to cross this line  
To the only thing that's true  
So I will not hide  
Its time to try anything to be with you  
All my life I've waited  
This is true_

"Jenna…I," he thought back to the last person who told him she was pregnant and it was his. It turned out not to be and it was a great disappointment, but this was Jenna, however it didn't change the fact that he was scared at his mind by what she was telling him. She looked at him and tears started to fill her eyes, it was like she was reading his mind.

"I'm not her and I wouldn't lie to you like that and I didn't know when I left that I was. But I mean I should have known, I didn't have any energy, I was throwing up all the time and I just thought it was the flu. The tension head aches should have given it away, my mom had them all the time when she pregnant with me and Frankie." Greg looked at her and gave her a little hug.

"For most women it's the missed period." Jenna shrugged.

"I missed periods when I wasn't having sex and it was because of stress…I thought that it was stress again." She looked at him. "I know we were careful and swear I took my pill every morning and I swear I didn't miss any and…" Greg pulled her into a kissed her.

"This is my baby?"

"Yeah." He kissed her again, a little longer this time and let his hand linger over her abdomen.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm scared shitless right now and I really don't know how to react other than to be happy that your home and that it's not a puppy." Jenna looked at blankly.

"What?"

"It was a dream and…"

"Greg?"

"Yeah."

"Shut up." She kissed him and started pulling off his tee shirt.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"When does it start kicking?" asked Greg tracing figure eights on her stomach.

"Not for another couple of weeks," said Jenna turning to look at him. Greg grinned.

"How did you find out?"

"After I went bungee jumping, I fainted. Laura and Marv took me to a hospital and the doctor ran a blood and urine test. My mom knows, I kind of told her first…I was scared and well, I wasn't going to tell you something this major over the phone. Plus I wasn't sure where we were."

"I think we're good right now." Greg grinned. "Eight weeks?"

"Eight or nine, I have a doctor's appointment next week." He thought back to what he remembered from his required biology classes in college, he let his hand rest on her stomach.

"Right now, the sex is defined, it has a heartbeat, and the fingerprints are evident." Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"You are a dork." Greg smiled.

"I also know that we share at least seven or more alleles in common with it, right now, our DNA is making a whole person…it's kind of cool." Jenna moved a little closer to him.

"Yeah, it's kind of cool." Greg kissed her forehead.

"You have no idea how cool, I think I know my reaction now…I'm scared, but I'm happy about this." Jenna smiled at him.

"That's good." Greg kissed her and looked at clock on his side of the bed.

"The courthouse opens in an hour; if we get dressed we could…" Jenna cut him off.

"Greg, I was ready to walk down the aisle with you a week ago and you weren't there and I know you're sorry and you didn't mean it. But, somewhere deep down, you weren't really ready to marry me, I know you think you are or were. I love you very much and I want you to be in my life and the baby's…god that still sounds weird, but I think we should set the marrying aside for awhile." He looked at her shocked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, do you think we can still be good?" It hurt a little that she wouldn't take that step back to him he really did want to marry her, but in a way he understood her, he had screwed up big time and the fact that he was even getting a second change to marry her meant something. He pulled her into a kiss and placed his hands on her lower back.

"We're still good."

Notes-Episode tie in-Redrum

Songs used-

Staind- Everything Changes

Gin Blossoms- Till I fall away

Ryan Cabrera-True

Did anyone guess baby with the head aches? One of my friends is pregnant right now and her big complaint is tension head ache, she did really think bad stomach flu when the morning sickness started. She is my current source for a real pregnant woman, so I'm going by her and the Internet…and yes fingerprints are set at eight to nine weeks. ^-^ Greg would geek out about that.


	17. Chats in a skimpy gown

Chats in a skimpy gown

"So, you can meet me at the doctor's office?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah, they moved my deposition back a week so I can meet with you. Are you sure you want me there?" Jenna was eating some crackers and looked at him.

"Yes, not only do I want you there, but I kind of need you there to give Dr. Massy medical info from your family. The only medical condition I know your family has is baldness and I'm really not worried about the baby coming out bald…now if we reach age three and I have Lex Luther than I'll worry. Do you not want to come with me?" Greg shook his head; Dana had been a real bitch about him coming with her when she had been pregnant, he should have realized it than that something wasn't right than, but he had been an idiot.

"No I want to be there, just call me around seven so I can have Sara cover for me. You sure you want to wait to tell people other than our parents?" Jenna sat the crackers down and got a glass of juice.

"I just don't want to get other people's hopes up to high until I get into the second trimester…trust me it sucks to tell people that you are and then have to un-tell them," she said with a hint of bitterness. Greg hugged her, this is was her second pregnancy, she had lost her first baby with her ex fiancée almost seven years ago. And he knew that she was scared of letting herself get too excited just yet.

"I'll try to keep this to myself, wow I'll have to keep a thought in my head. Do you have any idea how hard that is going to be?" Jenna laughed at him.

"You keeping a thought in your head, oh that is going to be hard. Just think it's a lesson in self control." He gave her kiss.

"I'll be there, I promise." Jenna hugged him.

"That's good, I'll see you later."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg was tapping his foot and doing a web search on the logo he found on the umbrella they had found in the dead guy's body. He found his mind wondering, god he really wanted to tell someone. He didn't get to enjoy the first time he thought he was going to be a parent. Dana had been a real bitch and he couldn't find himself feeling any attachment to her and the pregnancy maybe that was why he really had no issues dropping Dana like a bad habit after he found out it wasn't his.

_What a second…that matches._ The DB had been found with no bones and no tissue. They would have to stay in state to make sure that the tissue was still viable, one of the companies he found was called, Longevity Tissue Services. The logo was a Chinese character that was on the umbrella handle. _Bingo. _He printed out the site's page and went to find Nick who was working the case.

"Hey, I thought you had a deposition today?" asked Nick when Greg found him.

"Ah it got postponed; anyway I started looking in tissue donation companies in the state and there's only two on them. One of them is in Summerland; it's called Longevity Tissue Services." Greg handed Nick the web site print out.

"It's the same logo you found on the umbrella that was found in the DB."

"Yeah it's a Chinese character for long life."

"Yeah long life my ass, I'll get Sofia and we'll check this out. So a little bird told me that Jenna was home, how's it going?" _Shut up._

"It's good…wait what little bird?" Nick grinned.

"You had a lunch that wasn't ramen, you seem to be in a good mood and Bobby Dawson saw her shopping yesterday morning. So seriously how's it going, you two able to work out what issues you had?"

"Yeah, we talked, she explained why she took off like a bat of hell, I explained why I was a jackass and we agreed to give it another shot." Nick gave him a look.

"I just know you were in a real period of mourning there for a while I just wanted to see if you were ok? I like Jenna, but if I find out she's playing you the way Tina does with Warrick, I'll have Catherine and Sara beat her ass."

"Jen wouldn't do that to me we're fine." Nick gave him another look.

"You want to share with the rest of the class why you're so chipper?"

"I'm just happy that she's home." His cell phone went off, Greg unclipped it and looked, it was Jenna. "Hey I have to go, I have a doctor's appointment, I can't seem to find Sara, do you think you can cover for me?"

"Sure, you feeling ok?" asked Nick.

"Yeah."

"Than why are you going to the doctors?" Greg shrugged.

"Routine physical stuff, nothing major."

"You are a bad liar and I'm gonna find out what's going on one way or another. I'll see you later," said Nick. Greg shrugged and headed out.

Greg was sitting in a chair next to Jenna who was sitting on the exam table. A nurse took her blood pressure and temperature.

"Well your temperature and BP are normal." The nurse went over to a closet and pulled out a gown and had Jenna hop off the exam table so she could set it up. "Please undress, put the gown on, open in the back and if you could give us a urine sample that would be great. The doctor should be in to see you shortly." The nurse left the room and Jenna picked up her gown and sample cup and went into the bathroom. Greg looked around the exam room and felt a little weird.

"Jen?"

"Yes."

"Why do I feel like I'm back in my middle school sex ed class?"

"It could have something to do with the 1970 poster of the female anatomy on the wall; it could have something to do with the little pamphlets in the waiting room about safe sex, maybe because that nurse is old enough to have taught us sex ed." Jenna came out of the bathroom and sat the cup down on a tray and got back on the table. "I hate these gowns they itch."

"Could be worse, you be asked to bend over and cough." Jenna started laughing.

"No I just get to put my feet in the stir-ups." The door opened and someone with an Indian accent started talking and came into the room.

"Hello my name is Dr. Minhi and I…oh hello." Jenna seemed to turn three shades of red.

"Um, hi. Where is Dr. Massy?"

"He went into retirement last month, me and a couple of other OB's I know are slowly taking over his patients. If we're going to have an issue, I get another OB in here…" Greg looked between them and was lost.

"I'll give you two a moment…oh I'll take this too," he said grabbing the urine sample and leaving them alone. Jenna looked at Greg and was a little red and just grinning her ass off.

"I'm sure you'll find the humor in this if you really think about it."

"What's going on?"

"You remember that I told you about the one night thing I had between Andy and you, um that was him."

"What?"

"Dr. Minhi, um Amar and I had a one night stand a very long time ago." Jenna looked at the blank expression on Greg's face and grinned. "Oh come on its really funny it think about it."

"You had sex with him."

"It was a long time ago, it was one time and." She started giggling uncontrollable.

"Why is it so funny?"

"Because it is, oh come Greg you have to appreciate the irony of this. Oh come on, what is it?"

"You had sex with him!"

"One time, one time a very long time ago and it didn't mean anything. You had sex with other people before we got together this time, are we going to go into your sex life?"

"My pervious sex partners aren't my health care providers though." Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you have a thing with the oral surgeon once upon a time, and most of your pervious sex partners waited tables and danced in a line. At least my one has an MD, so suck on that."

"Alright, let's not go into whom we had sex with and what they did, I'm not sure how I feel about him treating you and our future offspring."

"Sweetie, trust me he's a good doctor or else he wouldn't be taking over Dr. Massy practice. And when I say it was nothing, I mean that it was nothing."

"You had sex with him, that's something…" Jenna started laughing again.

"If I tell you something about him will it make you feel better about him being my doctor and we can move and I can get out of this itchy gown?" asked Jenna.

"Sure tell me anything."

"You're bigger." Greg raised an eyebrow.

"That guy is like five inches taller than me." Jenna started giggling.

Think about it, really think about it sweetie." He thought about it and grinned. "Now that your male ego is fixed can we please move on I'm cold now too?"

"Yeah he can come in now?" Greg went and poked his head out and told the nurse they were ready to see the doctor again. She walked back down a hall to find him. A few moments later Dr. Minhi and a nurse came back into the exam room loaded down with stuff.

"Since this is the first prenatal appointment this could take awhile. We're going to need some blood from the both of you to test for blood type, Rh Factors and any diseases that you may or not be aware of. I'm sorry I'm going to assume you're the father, I'm Doctor Amar Minhi and I didn't get your name," said Minhi offering Greg a hand to shake, Greg took it and shook it.

"Greg Sanders and you would assume right about me being the father." Dr. Minhi had him sit down and the nurse took blood from the both of them.

"We should have your lab results back in a couple of days and now we get to play twenty questions about your medical history. I would advise total honesty in answering these questions, the answers will help us determine any risks or health issues your baby could have. So let's get started, are there any serious health issues that anyone in your family has?"

"Um, my mom had cancer, I think my grandfather on my dad's side had a heart issue. I can't think of anything else," said Jenna.

"My grandparents on my dad's side both had heart disease, my grandfather on that side had a triple bypass six months ago. I can't think of anything on my mom's side," said Greg.

"Do you two have any heart issues? Do you smoke, drink, drug use?"

"I used have a drink every once in awhile, but I haven't had one since October. I don't smoke and I've never touched a drug. Oh wait, I was having headaches and I took some aspirin, could I have screwed something up?"

"Was there ibuprofen in it?"

"I don't think so," said Jenna.

"Well it should be alright than, if the headaches continue I would suggest baby aspirin for the pain. Mr. Sanders?"

"Um, I don't smoke and I only drink once in awhile and…well I was twenty, in New York and there was some pot…" Jenna gave him a look and Dr. Minhi shook his head.

"Well it's been over ten years, I think you're good, now if it had happened ten days ago I would be worried. Do you have any pets or allergies?"

"We have a cat…oh god I scooped the litter box," said Jenna and Greg looked really confused.

"I shouldn't have because of some random toxic in cat litter," said Jenna

"Relax, it's still early and the odds of it happening are one in a thousand, but from now on he's going to have to change the kitty litter. But we'll test your blood for toxoplasmosis. Now, Jenna I'm going to have to ask you to lay down on the table and we're going to start the pap and pelvic exam. If you would like Greg here with you, he can stay." Jenna took his hand.

"Oh he's staying." Greg moved out the nurses way so she could the table set up.

"So when was your last period?" asked Dr. Minhi.

"Some time in November." Jenna let the nurse get her in position and her grip tightened on his hand during the exam. He didn't blame her it looked uncomfortable and he had a feeling that the small talk was even weirder. At least his doctor just got the exam done and they went on with their lives.

"Did you take an at home test?" asked Dr. Minhi pushing down on her, Jenna's grip tightened on his hand again.

"No, I fainted and the hospital ran the test and the ER doctor pegged me at about eight weeks."

"Alright everything looks normal, I didn't find anything to suggest entopic pregnancy. I'm going to give you a prescription for the prenatal vitamins. Would you like to hear the heartbeat?" asked Minhi.

"I didn't think you could hear a heartbeat so soon," said Greg.

"Well it can be tricky, but it can be done. We got a new Fetal Doppler that we've been wanting to try out. Would you mind if we try it out on you?" Jenna looked at Greg and he gave her a small grin.

"Do you want to be guinea pig?" asked Greg.

"Sure, let's give it a try."

"We'll go get the Doppler while you get dressed," said Dr. Minhi and he and the nurse left the room. Jenna hopped off the table and walked back into the bathroom and got dressed.

"So do they always have the small talk portion of the exam?" asked Greg.

"Yeah, it's suppose to make you feel better about having a stranger poke and prod at you in very uncomfortable fashion. I never want to hear you complain about bend and cough again, at least you only have to do that once every couple of years. I get one of these every year, so yeah no more bitching from you."

"You will never hear me complain again. So how do you feel?"

"Good…I'm starving, do you think you have time for breakfast?" He had a feeling that he should get back to the lab and see where they were on the tissue collection and the DB, but he really wanted to spend a little more time with her.

"Yeah I have time." Dr. Minhi came back in with a pair of head phones and a something that looked like a giant calculator of some sort of a wand attached.

"Ok, this is very straightforward, now I'm going to warn you it can be tricky, the mother's heartbeat and the baby's sometimes go together and we can't tell one from the other. Or they like to be sneaky and hide where we can't find the heart beat. But, we'll give it a shot. Lie back down and lift your shirt up a little bit and undo your jeans." Jenna followed his instructions and a nurse came in with the ultrasound goo and placed some on Jenna abdomen.

"Ok, let's give this a shot," said Dr. Minhi putting the headphones on. He took the wand and started to move over her abdomen, he frowned and took a second trip and he reached over and turned the volume up on the monitor and when he went on his third try he gave a small grin and took off the headphones.

"Congratulations, we have fetal heartbeat. Would you like to hear?"

"That's a dumb question," Jenna blurted out.

"Jen! Well she's kind of right it's a dumb question," said Greg and Dr. Minhi handed them the headphones.

"Here you go." Jenna let Greg have the headphones first and he put them on and waited.

"I don't hear anything," he said.

"Hold on, let me turn the volume up," said Dr. Minhi, he turned the volume up and Greg started listening again. It was subtle at first, but then he heard it loud and clear.

_Bump bump…holy shit there it is. Oh wow this is so cool. _ He looked at Jenna and she was looking at him with a grin. Oh this was so cool, it was that scared but happy feeling all over again. He was really excited and he almost didn't want to give her the headphones.

"Can I hear…please?" she asked. He reluctantly gave her the headphones and let her listen. She bit her lip and listened, her face broke into a huge smile and her eyes started to tear up. "Oh my god…oh my god," she looked up at Greg and pointed to her abdomen. "Our baby."

"Yes, that's our baby," said Greg kissing the top of her head. Dr Minhi smiled at both of them.

"I hate to be the bad guy in this, but I have to ask for the monitor back." Jenna frowned a little bit and handed the headphones back to him.

"Well, I'll see you back here next week for your test results and we'll start keeping track of weight and address any issues you may have. Oh and with your last period being in November, I'm going to give you a due date of July. Here is your prescription and I'll see you next week. Well set up an appointment for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks." Dr. Minhi and the nurse left the room and Jenna was using some wet naps to get the goo off her stomach. She fixed her pants and her shirt and looked at Greg. He stood up to get their coats and Jenna grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Because I can and wow, did you hear it?"

"Yeah, it was a little bump bump…bump bump and," he picked her up and gave her another kiss.

"We're having a baby, us, oh my god," said Jenna.

"You still want breakfast?"

"I really want some pecan pancakes and some fried eggs."

"And the cravings begin," said Greg.

Notes-Kitty litter and pregnancy are bad, they should not be mixed at all cost.


	18. Sharing with others

Sharing with others

February 2007

"Are we there yet, I have to pee," said Jenna taping her foot on the floor of the car.

"You just went like twenty minutes ago," said Greg. They were going to Nick's Super Bowl party and Jenna was sitting in the passenger seat doing dance in the seat.

"Well you have someone pressing down on your bladder and see how much you go?"

"Relax we're almost there."

"Thank you god, um they still don't know yet right?" asked Jenna.

"I'm waiting for you to give the ok," said Greg trying to remember what street was Nick's, they had been here for a New Year's Eve party, but it was dark and everything looked different.

"Well, do you want to do it after the Colts win?" asked Jenna.

"You mean after the Bears win," said Greg.

"No, your team is going to lose, I will laugh and I'll let you break the news to your friends so you don't feel like so much of a loser. Oh right there, the white house with the really big windows. Thank you, thank you, thank you," Jenna was bouncing in her seat.

"You're going to ruin the cake with the bouncing," said Greg.

"I don't care, I really need to go." Greg parked the car and Jenna almost flew out the car and Greg had to run to catch up with her. Jenna rang the door bell and Nick came to the door and let them both in. Jenna sat the cake down and asked Nick where the bathroom was and almost ran to it when Nick told her it was down the hall. Nick gave her a look.

"She ok?" asked Nick.

"Yeah, she just had a Big Gulp before coming over. So we made a cake."

"You mean Jenna made a cake and you watched," said Nick.

"I licked the bowl does that count?" asked Greg taking the cake into the kitchen. He opened the cake top and shook his head. She had decorated the cake with a Colt trampling a Bear.

"Oh she's after my heart," said Nick looking at the cake.

"She's just rooting for the Colts to annoy me and her brother," said Greg. Jenna came into the kitchen and was smiling.

"Feel better?" asked Greg.

"You have no idea. Do you need help with anything Nicky?" asked Jenna.

"Nope, you guys are guests, go downstairs and enjoy the party." Jenna and Greg headed downstairs. Warrick, Catherine, Sara, Archie, Mandy, Wendy, Dave and his wife Stacy were already downstairs and munching on various snack foods and taking bets on the game.

"Ok, so Mandy, Wendy, Archie and Sara are for the Bears and everyone is for the winning team. So when the Colts win I encourage people to throw peanuts at the above mentioned losers," said Warrick.

"Don't forget Greg," said Jenna pointing at him.

"Nick will kill you for throwing peanuts in his newly redone entertainment cave," said Greg.

"Only if the Bears fans throw them at the Colts fans," said Nick coming downstairs with the sandwiches and Hodges was behind him carrying a small cooler of drinks and a bag of chips. "Oh I forgot to ask what you guys what like to drink, we got beer, soda, juice, booze to put in the juice and soda."

"Beer me," said Greg.

"Juice," said Jenna.

"What do you want in?" asked Nick.

"Just juice," Nick gave her a look, "I'm the sober party tonight."

"Well it's nice to see a responsible adult," said Hodges sitting down next to them. Jenna wrinkled her nose. _God did he freaking bathe in the aftershave. _Nick handed their drinks and sat down with them.

"Hey Cat, is the new guy coming to join us?" asked Nick.

"Oh Mike, nah he said he was staying in, probably has all he can stand of you at work," said Catherine.

"Who's Mike?" asked Jenna.

"New guy from Baltimore, he's filling in for Grissom until Days feels the need to take him away," said Greg.

"He started when you took your sabbatical from Vegas," said Catherine to Jenna. Jenna took a sip of juice and really wished it was something stronger. Jenna recognized veiled bitchyness and it was coming from Catherine in full force. Greg seemed to recognize the veiled bitchyness and wrapped and arm around Jenna's shoulder and shot Catherine a look.

The game started and more talk was focused on the game and mocking the Bears fans in the room every time the Colts scored, Nick even took part of throwing peanuts at the Bears fans that was until Sara threatened to have his truck stolen and repainted with naked women and dice on it.

"Oh that's just mean," said Nick. Jenna laughed and looked at Greg.

"Hey I'm going upstairs for a bathroom break and cake. Do you want anything?"

"Beer me?" he asked giving her puppy eyes.

"Great I'm your beer wench now." She kissed him on the top of the head and headed upstairs. She went to bathroom and thanked the lord that she had made to half time without needing to pee again. She washed her hands and went to get Greg's beer and some cake. She walked into the kitchen and Catherine was getting another hot dog and some chicken wings.

"Hey," said Jenna cutting the cake into squares.

"Hey," said Catherine getting some dipping sauce out of the fridge. "So I didn't ask how your trip was."_ Oh shit._ She should have expected this; she knew Ofilia had given Greg a shitty time when he showed up at the bakery after the failed marriage attempt. She had a feeling that Catherine was going to give her a shitty time right now.

"It was good; saw some old friends that Greg and I used to work with. Went to the beach, acted like a tourist for a change." Catherine gave her a look and shut the fridge door.

"Was depressing the hell of Greg part of your plans?"

"Actually that was not my itinerary." Jenna grabbed a paper plate and threw her cake on it. "Look what happened is done, Greg and I have worked it out and it's really no one's business what happened. So are we done here?" Catherine got in front of her.

"If I find out that you're screwing Greg over the way Tina does to Warrick I will make you sorry." Jenna sighed, everyone knew that Tina had cheated on Warrick and despite them trying to work it out; you hardly ever saw them together, like tonight.

"Sure, I'll put in my Blackberry. Excuse me," said Jenna grabbing a beer for Greg and heading back downstairs.

"Hey, what took you so long? The Bears scored and Sara got Nick in the face with cashew," said Greg. Jenna handed him his beer and sat down.

"Girl talk," said Jenna eyeing Catherine who came back downstairs. Hodges plunked back down next to them and Jenna's stomach did a flip. _God good he reeks of freaking aftershave, _she took a bite of cake and found she had no taste for it. She was now having second thoughts about telling the group here, if Catherine thought she was a cheating whore, she could think what they would say about her being pregnant. _I mean I was here in Vegas with Greg and Greg only…god maybe this is why Tina stays the hell away_. Hodges was eating a bunch of Fritos right now and Jenna wanted to kill him.

"You ok?" asked Greg.

"Yeah."

"It's just you stopped eating the cake, you sure you're ok?" She nodded and took a sip of her juice. _God why are there never any murder weapons around when needed._ The smell was really starting to get to her, and Hodges seemed to be eating them with his mouth opened and the crunching seemed to be getting louder by the second.

"Hodges I'm begging you to please stop eating those damn chips," said Jenna.

"No I like them." He crunched into another one and she fought the urge to throttle him.

"Than sit somewhere else," she hissed. Greg looked over and so did Sara and Nick at what was going on.

"No, I like it here, you move."

"Hodges either stop eating the chips or move," snapped Jenna feeling the bile start to rise. Dave, Stacy, Mandy and Wendy were now looking at them in confusion.

"And what are you going to do if I don't do either one," said Hodges chomping another chip. Jenna jumped up from the sofa, took the stairs three at a time, almost ran into Archie who was coming down the stairs and barely made it to the bathroom. Nick muted the game and Greg wished that the floor would swallow him whole; everyone could hear Jenna getting sick in the bathroom.

"That was a little extreme don't you think," said Hodges.

"Damn if the Bears moved liked that I would be winning my bet with Warrick," said Mandy. Nick exchanged a looked with Catherine and Sara before addressing Greg.

"So, is there a reason why she's hurling in my bathroom right now, other being near Hodges?"

"Hey," said Hodges. Greg sighed and took a sip of his beer, no point in trying to hide it now.

"Jenna's expecting."

"Expecting what?" asked Dave, Stacy elbowed him and realization dawned on him. "Oh, hey congratulations."

"Greggo are you telling us she's preggo?" asked Nick.

"About ten weeks," said Greg. Sara's eyes got wide and she grinned

"And you were going to tell us when?" asked Sara.

"After the Bears won," said Greg.

"Oh if that was the case, you were going to be waiting till hell froze over," said Warrick. "Congrats man." Hodges looked sad.

"She's ruining her gene pool with you; oh I would throw up too." Greg decided since they weren't at work he could smack him upside the head and he made sure he hit him hard. Catherine looked up the stairs and shook her head.

"She's not coming back down…I'll go get her," said Catherine heading up the stairs.

"Hey the Colts won," said Archie.

"Screw that, hit him again Greg I want to videotape that," said Wendy pulling out her camera phone.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Catherine knocked on the bathroom door. "Jen?"

"Go away, I'm praying to the porcelain goddess." Catherine heard her retch again and the sounds of flushing. She shook her head and went into the bathroom. Jenna was resting her head on the seat and she looked at Catherine. "What? Go on say whatever the hell your thinking, yes it's Greg's unless I found some magically way to speed up pregnancy and if I could I would sell it on the open market and buy an island." Catherine got a wash cloth and ran it under some cold water. She got down on the floor and knelt next to Jenna and grinned.

"Pork." Jenna took the wash cloth and buried her face in it and than she looked back up at Catherine.

"What?" asked Jenna confused.

"I couldn't stand the smell of pork when I was pregnant with Lindsey. Eddie was having a cookout and he was roasting a hog and the smell…even the most decomposed DB has never come that close to that smell. I spent the rest of the night curled up in the bathroom heaving my guts out. Let me guess, the chips."

"Fritos are the devil and when you mix them with that Axe or whatever knock off Hodges is wearing," Jenna just cringed and Catherine gave her a small smile.

"I'm sorry I acted all bitchy, lets just say I've seen members of the team get in relationships after relationship and end up watching them get screwed every time. He really missed you." Jenna nodded.

"We just really needed a break from each other to figure out what we really wanted. I'm not Tina, I'm not Hank, or Nick's deceased friend, I don't plan on screwing over Greg." Catherine gave her hand and helped Jenna off the floor, Jenna went over the sink and stole some of Nick's mouthwash and gargled with it.

"I'll pay him back for it later." Greg and Nick came up the stairs dragging Hodges behind them.

"Now what do you say," said Nick holding Hodges by the collar.

"I'm sorry that I upset you to the point of projectile vomiting and I will not do whatever it was that caused that to happen again. Can I go now?" asked Hodges.

"Yeah go," said Greg and Nick let go of Hodges.

"I am sorry that you're carrying Sanders unborn offspring, hopefully your good genetics will hide any of his faults." Hodges went back down the stairs and Nick shook his head and hugged Jenna.

"Congratulations, when did you find out?"

"On vacation, sorry I threw up in the bathroom." Nick laughed.

"It's not the worst thing that has happened in my house, trust me. We'll give you two a minute," said Nick and he and Catherine went back downstairs. Jenna looked sheepishly at Greg.

"So, how they take it?"

"Good, how are you feeling?"

"Better, much better. Fritos are the devil." Greg hugged her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I promise, no more Fritos, Nick threw them out and Hodges is not allowed to sit near you anymore."

"Thank you."

"So…Fritos?" asked Greg with a grin.

"They smell, good god they smell. I never realized how much they smelled until now. Wow, I having one of those freaky pregnancy things."

"That's good right?"

"If you want to think its good than so be it, so who won the game?"

"You did, however I got to smack Hodges upside the head and that makes everything better somehow."

"I missed it," whined Jenna.

"Oh Wendy has it on her camera phone."

"Sweet," they went back down stairs and Hodges was made to sit on the floor and Jenna and Greg took turns throwing peanuts at him.

"I don't know how a child is going to survive with you two as parents," said Hodges.

"The lab survives with you there," said Wendy handing Jenna the video of Greg smacking Hodges. "And that is still a mystery." He glared at her and Wendy grinned and sat down next to them. "I have one of him dancing in here somewhere."

"No you don't." Jenna looked at the video.

"You do a wonderful robot."

"Wait till Grissom gets back."

"He can't fire me for abuse that happens outside of the lab," said Greg with a smile.

"If that's the case," said Wendy, she picked up a peanut and tossed it at Hodges.

"All of you are so unprofessional," he got up and left the basement.

"I should e-mail Barb and see if she gave a baby up when she was younger," said Jenna.

"Maybe we could set them up if they're not related," said Greg. Jenna got her cake off the table and started eating.

"That would be mean, think of what would happen to any child they had."

"Now I have to throw up," said Greg going upstairs.

_Dork,_ Jenna finishing her cake.

Notes- My friend who is currently expecting hates the smell of McDonalds, she almost killed the father for bringing it home one night. She said the smell made her sick, my future mother in law, said it was baking bread and she lived near a Subway, so I can easily picture Jenna wanting to kill Hodges and the Fritos.

Sorry to Hodges fans for the abuse of him, but he is so easy to poke fun at, he is the Dwight of CSI. The lab dance is from season seven, and it was a nifty dance.


	19. Other people's kids

Other people's kids

February 2007

"Damn it, why won't it fit," hissed Jenna tossing the shirt down and started looking again for a shirt. Greg watched her from the door and was trying not to laugh. The month was almost over and she was between thirteen and fourteen weeks and the showing was starting. Dr. Minhi told them to go with fourteen weeks since Jenna couldn't peg her last period. The showing wasn't much, but for Jenna, clothes, mostly shirts were starting to become an annoyance.

"Honey, what was wrong with the last shirt?" asked Greg watching her throw another shirt aside.

"It felt tight, damn it." She pulled out a black blouse with some butterflies on it, the top was a baby doll style and she sighed. "Thank you something that fits and looks dressy. At least I still fit into my skirt, for now." Jenna dug out a pair of flats and marched into the bathroom to do her hair; Greg followed her and leaned in the doorway.

"Relax, it's going to be ok," Jenna plugged in a curling iron and looked at him.

"This is my god daughter's Quinceañera, I have waited fifteen years for this day, I have spent over a year helping plan this day, it is a big deal and I just want it to go well and I want…I don't what I want." She slammed down a brush and he was finding it harder not to laugh by the second. He came up behind her and hugged her.

"You're pretty."

"You're bias." He put his hands on her bump and grinned.

"So what sweetie…I like that you're starting to show." Jenna turned around and shrugged.

"I'm getting fat." He lost it he started laughing and sat down on the toilet.

"Isn't that part of what being pregnant involves?"

"Couldn't it have waited for another week…all of sudden, poof there's bump. What the hell? That and I can't fit in a bra anyone, I gone up a cup size…all the years I wanted boobs and I never got them. Now I'm in my thirties and poof there here too and I heard that I don't even get to keep them afterward, it like a cruel joke" She started curling her hair and Greg reached around her for a toothbrush.

"You had very nice boobs before getting pregnant and it could be worse. You could have had my week." And it had been a sucky week, with the expectation of Grissom coming back everything else had sucked, Keppler was going back to Philly in a coffin due to him trying to save Catherine from a dirty cop, a box that had been sitting on Grissom's desk for almost a month was another miniature…Ernie Dell had been covering for someone and now a cop was dead because of a failed undercover attempt and they were looking at going through years of foster kid records to see if it was one of the Dell foster kids. On top of that he had his deposition last week and it went on for over six hours with almost no breaks.

He was exhausted from having to relive the night of October 12th 2006 again, he came home after the deposition and the return of the miniature killer and slept for almost ten hours straight. He had been really quite and Jenna had left him alone, expect for when she crawled into bed with him. The only thing that she had asked him for last week was that he be free on Saturday for Millia's Quinceañera and to remind him that her brother and sister in law were going to be in town for the Quinceañera and that they were having lunch with them on Sunday night. Jenna looked over at him and wiped some toothpaste off the corner of his mouth.

"Sorry, I'm cranky and a little moody."

"Isn't that part of the pregnancy deal?"

"You'll have to ask Frankie, he and Karen have two, I'm sure he knows."

"I'm just waiting for you to call me in the middle of shift and demand that I find you some off the wall food or something."

"Oh Karen is the queen of that." Someone knocked at the door. "I'll get it." Greg finished getting ready and walked towards the living room and saw that Jenna had let in Frankie and Karen. Karen was holding two large Babies R Us bags and grinning.

"We don't even know if it's a he or a she yet," said Jenna.

"The ultrasound is next week though. So what's in here?" asked Greg taking the bags from Karen.

"Stuff from Anya and Jordan, things they outgrew and are still wearable. Trust me they grow fast and you'll thank me later for the hundreds you'll save. Until they reach six months it's wash and wear." Jenna hugged her.

"You are the best," Jenna pulled out a pink kitty nightgown and looked at her. "Wow, was Anya really this tiny?"

"About six years ago yeah, now she's a mile a minute mouth and to think that I used to watch her when she was sleeping and think she was the most wonderful thing in the world. Now she sleeps and all I can of is the fact that she's reenergizing for another chatter fest. I hope your mother enjoys them," said Frankie looking at Karen.

"Speaking of moms when is yours coming home?" asked Karen.

"Next month, she had some loose ends to tie up and than she's taking the house in Henderson back and she'll be filling in for me when I go on maternity leave," said Jenna, pulling out a pair of footie pajamas. Greg took one of the bags and started to look through it, god it was all so tiny, he sat it aside trying to ignore the slightly freaked out feeling he just got.

"Hey if you want to make it there on time we should head out," said Greg. Jenna looked at her watch and muttered.

"God we're going to be late," said Jenna grabbing her purse and Millia's gift.

"Relax, Ofilia and Jonathan are probably so caught up trying to control over ten teenagers, she won't notice if we're late," said Frankie.

"Oh shit, her doll and her rosary," said Jenna ducking into the office to get it. Greg raised an eyebrow.

"Doll?" he asked. Jenna came out the office holding a doll in a pink dress like it was baby and a box that had Millia's rosary.

"The Last Doll, come on I'll try to explain it better in the car," said Jenna. The four of them got in Frankie's rent a car, Jenna sat in the back next to Greg and started explaining Quinceañeras to him in more detail than she had before. He knew she had one, but he seemed to lacking knowledge about certain traditions.

"Ok, a Quinceañera, it's a coming of age for a girl of fifteen, it's not just a birthday party, its showing that a girl is no longer a girl she's a woman. It's sort of like a debutante ball and Bat Mitzvah all in one."

Frankie gave her look in the rearview mirror. "I'm trying to explain it so he'll understand, it's a party, but it's also religious and symbolic. Like the Last Doll, it is the last doll she'll ever get because she's not a child anymore. After she gets the Last Doll, Ofilia will give Millia her 'first' pair of high heels showing that she an adult now, Jonathan will do the father/daughter dance and than her and the court dance, finalizing her transition from girl to woman." Greg just kind of blinked at her and Jenna shrugged. "I didn't make the rules." Karen turned around and looked at him.

"It sounds overwhelming and weird, but it's a really beautiful, just sit there and enjoy it and think, maybe in fifteen years you'll be leading the dance with your daughter." Karen looked at Jenna. "God that reminds me I should start setting aside in case Anya wants a Quinceañera…please let her want a sweet sixteen like a white girl."

"If it's a girl she either having a Quinceañera when she's fifteen or a sweet sixteen, I'm not about to go through the hassle of two different parties, I'll mix them, but she's not having both," said Jenna. Greg just kind of sat back, lost in thought.

_Oh god…I'm going to be a parent._ It seemed silly, he already knew that but it seemed really real suddenly. It was the baby clothes and talking about kids turning into adults that made things start to stick in his mind. God those clothes were all so tiny, he was a klutz and the thought of being responsible for someone so tiny was scary, really scary.

"Earth to Greg, come in Greg," said Jenna snapping her fingers.

"Whoa what?" he asked.

"Do you want to sit in the hot car while the rest of us go into the air conditioned church?" asked Jenna.

"Oh yeah, church," he unbuckled his seat belt and got out the car. Frankie gave him a look. Jenna and Karen walked ahead of them and Frankie put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll talk to you later," said Frankie catching up with Karen and Jenna. Greg caught up with them and took Jenna's hand when they walked into the church.

Being the only godparent and spending hours helping plan this day, Jenna made Greg, Frankie and Karen sit in one of the front pews. Music started playing a few moments after they sat down and heads turned to look down the aisle. Four sets of teenagers came walking down the aisle, the boys in tuxes and the girls in formal red dresses each of them holding a white rose, when they came to an aisle marker, they turned to face each and they all held up the roses, a few seconds later Ofilia and Jonathan made there way down the runner, Jenna had told him Millia's birth father had left the second the stick showed two pink lines, Jonathan was filling in, he was the closest thing Millia had to a father. The music got louder and Millia, wearing a white dress with a red ribbon tied around her waist came down the aisle with her boyfriend. Greg blinked, he almost didn't recognize Millia, when Jenna had lived in Henderson, it was common for Millia to pop in and hang out with him and Jenna if Ofilia was running errands. He knew her as the kid with baggy jeans and a fondness for Harry Potter, Love Hina and Mega Tokyo. Greg had tutored her in Biology and she managed to get him pirated copies of Ranma ½ he had never asked her how she got them. God it was weird to see her all dressed up.

_Just think…that could be your kid in the future, from tiny clothes to a formal suit or dress, oh god I need a drink._ His head was starting to spin, he gave Jenna's hand a squeeze and she put her head on his shoulder. Millia knelt down and the priest started with a blessing and prayer.

"This is a wonderful day for a Quinceañera. We ask the Lord to bless this day and to bless his daughter, Millia Felicia Perez. We ask him to safe guard our child and to her keep her on the path of rightness for all her days, Amen." The priest led them in mass, and then Jenna and Ofilia got up and Ofilia put a tiara on Millia and Jenna put the rosary on her. Both of them seemed to trying not to cry when they went back to their seats.

"Millia would now like to say a few words." Millia got up and went over the podium.

"She's so pretty," Jenna whispered to Greg. Millia smiled nervously at the crowd and adjusted the mike.

"Hello and I would like to thank everyone here for coming and sharing this day with me and my family. They say a Quinceañera is a bridge from childhood to adulthood and I've had wonderful people to help me cross the bridge. I would like to take a moment to thank those people. First of all, my mother, she's kind of the reason I'm here right now."

Everyone started laughing and Greg grinned, under the dress was still the little smart ass he knew and loved.

"My Mami has always worked really hard to make sure I was taken care of and I know I can be a pain…she told me so this morning while I was getting my hair done." The crowd started laughing again and Greg wished he could see Ofilia's face. "But she still loves me and I know that no matter what I do she'll always be there."

"I would also like to thank my Godmother Jenna Bianchi." Greg looked at Jenna and her face seemed to be a little pink. "She's been my mother's best friend since they were little girls. She's always been there for my mother and for me; I someday hope to have a friend just like her." He heard Jenna sniff and her face was very pink.

"I would also like to thank my coworkers, Julia Fay and Megan Thomlin. They are two of the funniest women I've ever met and are like the sisters I've never had, they have always made me laugh and they introduced to some of the greatest things ever, like the Clash and Daft Punk…my mother thanks you every day when she comes home and I'm blasting it." The crowd started laughing again and Ofilia just put her head in her hands and shook her head.

"And I would like to thank everyone here, my family, and my friends for being with me every step of the way. Thank you." Millia stepped down and everyone clapped. The priest gave his final blessing and Millia was escorted back down the aisle by her boyfriend and the rest of the court followed behind her. Ofilia and Jonathan walked behind the court and the rest of the church followed behind them.

"She was so pretty," said Jenna heading outside to where the pictures were being taken.

"I know," said Greg. Millia and the court were screwing around waiting for the photographer to get his stuff set up. Millia spotted Greg and Jenna and walked over to them, her tiara was starting to fall out and she was holding on to it for dear life.

"Mom is freaking out that photographer is taking too long…it's a treat to hear her scream at someone else for a change."

"Millia! Consiga su asno aquí1" Millia rolled her eyes and Jenna fixed her tiara.

"Be good for one day, I'm begging you," said Jenna.

"You make it sound like I'm a bad kid. You're staying for pictures?" asked Millia.

"Duh," said Jenna. Millia grinned and looked at Greg.

"Are you staying for pictures too?"

"Um, if you want me too," said Greg.

"Millia!" called Jonathan.

"You're my Godmother's other half and it makes you a godparent by default so yes I would like to stay for pictures…later," Millia did a mini run in her dress trying not to lose her tiara. The photographer started lining them up and taking pictures, Jenna looked up at Greg.

"Now you can go to work and say you're a Godfather, you should have worn your trilby hat, if would have been prefect. Are you alright?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah…it's just wow Godfather." Jenna took his hand and watched the photographer rearrange the court and take some more pictures.

"Ofilia had Andy's name removed as Millia's Godfather years ago the slot is open if you want it, I don't know if we have to prove if you're Catholic, but I think Millia would like it if you took it."

"I don't know if I can fill the shoes of Brando, but I'll try." They were called over for pictures, Greg stood behind Jenna and Millia and wrapped his arms around Jenna's waist and Jenna pulled Millia into a hug.

"And say Quince!"

"Quince," all three of them called out.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"And to present the Last Doll is Jenna Bianchi." Jenna got up from the table that she, Greg, Frankie and Karen had taken. Millia was standing in the middle of the dance floor looking awkward, Jenna walked up to her and handed her the doll and was given a mike by the MC.

"Um, wow this is harder than I thought. This is the Last Doll and I'm honored to be giving this to you. Someday, when I have my children I hope they turn out just like you. I've had the privilege of watching you grow up to become a wonderful young lady and while your mother and I call you a pain and take amusement in embarrassing you, we love you and we, along with everyone else in this room are very proud of you." Jenna kissed Millia on her forehead and went back to the table, she was near tears, but she had a smile on her face and she sat back down with Greg and put her head on his shoulder. Ofilia got up and was holding a pair of dress shoes with a heel.

"I love you, of all the things in my life you were the best thing that has ever happened to me. I thank god everyday for letting me have you in my life." Millia sat down on a stool and Ofilia put the dress shoes on her and gave her daughter a hug and took her over to Jonathan, and both of them walked out to the dance floor and started to waltz.

_There are places I remember  
All my life  
Though some have changed  
Some forever  
Not for better  
Some have gone  
And some remain  
All these places have their moments  
With lovers and friends  
I still can recall  
Some are dead and some are living  
In my life  
I've loved them all_

"Didn't we dance to Que Sera Sera at your Quinceañera?" asked Frankie looking at the dance floor.

"Yeah…I think we got stares for the non traditional music pick. How dare I want a song in English with hints of my Italian heritage," said Jenna.

"I think they shut up when you did your group dance to Selena," said Frankie.

_When I think of love  
As something new  
Though I know I'll never those affection  
For people and things  
That went before  
I know I'll often stop and think about them  
In my life  
I love you more_

_Though I know I'll never lose affection  
For people and things  
That went before  
I know I'll often stop and think about them  
In my life  
I love you more_

Oohh ...

In my life  
I love you more

The song finished and Jonathan gave Millia a kiss on the forehead and the rest of the court came back out to the dance floor and took a spot on the dance floor and Shakira starting playing.

_Ladies up in here tonight  
No fighting, no fighting  
We got the refugees up in here  
No fighting, no fighting_

Shakira, Shakira

I never really knew that she could dance like this  
She makes a man wants to speak Spanish  
Como se llama (si), bonita (si), mi casa (si, Shakira Shakira), su casa  
Shakira, Shakira

The group started to tango and the crowd started to cheer them on.

"How long did they spend learning this dance?" asked Greg after watching the teens on the dance floor twirl about and change partners seamlessly.

"Months, hours of practice every other day. I think I can still remember my Quince tango if I think hard enough. Yeah, it's key to pick a song you really like because you'll be hearing it a lot over the months leading up to the Quince," said Jenna watching the teens dance.

"What did you dance to?" asked Greg.

"Selena, Baila Esta Cumbia, oh wait it's coming back to me. Left, left, right, right, twirl, step, twirl, twirl, step…oh damn it, I thought I had finally purged it from my brain," said Jenna. The teens finished the dance and the crowd cheered and the DJ started playing Beyonce, Crazy in Love, Karen grinned at Jenna and stood up.

"Come on, I feel the need to white girl dance, I'm sure we can talk Ofilia into embarrassing Millia by dancing."

"What the hell, a white girl, a Mexican mom, and a preggo out on the dance floor, sounds like the start of a joke," said Jenna getting up. "Would you boys like to join us?" Frankie put a hand on Greg's shoulder.

"I think we're going to stay here and watch the white girl dance," Karen gave him a look.

"Frankie…behave."

"Yes mom," said Frankie and Jenna and Karen went off to find Ofilia. Frankie looked at Greg and shook his head.

"So it finally kicked in eh?"

"What kicked in?" asked Greg.

"The fact that for the next eighteen years of your life another human being is going to be in constant need of you. They start out tiny and the next thing you know, they're out there on the dance floor. It's scary, I know, Anya started kindergarten this year and she came her first day of school and got an invite to a sleepover and all I could think of was the fact that I just got her used to sleeping without a nightlight. It's retarded, I know it's retarded, but I'm thinking, man sleepovers, soon it's gonna be whole weekends away and than she's gonna wanna go away for whole weeks and than I know I'll be lucky if she comes home for holidays." Greg went to say something but Frankie went on.

"And boys, I swear to god Karen told me about this little boy who told Anya he liked her and I wanted to go beat his ass and he's six. I was ready to beat the ass of a six year old for liking my little girl, a six year old!" Greg let a laugh.

"It didn't hit me until I looked at the clothes. Tiny little outfits, I'm a klutz, what happens if I drop the baby, they don't bounce I know that much. What if I suck at being a dad, I mean I know they don't grade parents but I've seen bad parents and what they do to kids."

He thought about the kids who went fannysmackin, the adults who locked kids in basements and left them to die, or forgot about them in hot cars. He didn't think he would be that bad of a parent, but he was pretty sure the people who raised those kids didn't think they would be bad parents. Or the parents who raised the parents of the kids they messed up.

"My sister is in love with you, I like you. I think you're a good person; I haven't threatened to remove your balls the way I had to with Andy. You'll do fine; in fact I'm going to give you a chance to prove to yourself that you'll do fine. See the boy over there with Jonathan?"

Greg looked up and saw Jonathan with Millia's boyfriend Alex and Jonathan was bring him over to the table. "A tradition that is unspoken among the men at a Quinceañera is to scare the shit out the boy who escorts the girl. Me and Jonathan had a talk with Andy when Jenna had her Quinceañera and we failed. We want you to have a chat with little Alex about what will happen if he screws up and hurts Millia." Frankie patted him on the shoulder. "Jonathan and I will watch, jump in if we feel that you're failing. Here he is, Alex sit down with us." Jonathan put Alex in a chair between him and Greg and Frankie.

"You having a good time?" asked Jonathan. Poor Alex looked like he wanted to die.

"Yes sir, a really good time," said Alex sipping his punch.

"Not too good though?" asked Frankie and Greg was trying not to laugh at the look of horror on Alex's face.

"No, I'm…just the right amount of fun sir." Jonathan sat back in his seat and put his arm around Alex.

"That's nice, is Millia having fun?" asked Jonathan.

"Yeah."

"Are you having fun with Millia?" asked Jonathan.

"Um…I um….um…um…I," Greg thought about it and knew what he would say if this was his daughter. He moved closer to Alex and leaned in.

"See, let me explain something. I'm Millia's godfather and her godmother is the mother of my unborn baby. I love both them very much; you hurt Millia that mean you hurt Jenna. And I promise you if you hurt them I will end your life and I will get away with too, do you know why?" asked Greg.

"No sir," said Alex.

"I work for the LVPD crime lab, I know how to dispose of evidence at a crime scene and where all the good body dumping sights are in Vegas and I will make sure that you are a missing person that really vanishes without a trace. Understand?" Poor Alex just nodded and got up and walked away. Jonathan and Frankie just looked at him.

"Damn we said scare the boy, that boy is going to have nightmares till doomsday," said Jonathan and Greg stammered.

"Well I just thought…" Frankie started laughing.

"That was beautiful I thought the kid was gonna piss his pants. You're gonna be a good dad."

"Really?"

"You scare them like that, you'll do fine," said Jonathan.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"It's nice to know that the tradition of making the escort piss himself out of fear is still alive," said Ofilia.

"What?" asked Jenna. Karen nodded her head in the direction of the table, Jenna looked over and poor Alex had been cornered by Jonathan, Frankie and Greg.

"God I hope it's not the 'I'm gonna remove your balls' speech that Frankie gave Andy, it was really lame," said Jenna.

"Oh let them feel like their making a difference," said Karen twirling Jenna. "So how are you feeling?"

"I'm having the grosses craving right now, my brain knows this is nasty, but I still really want it."

"Is it nastier than strawberry shortcake and fried pickles?" asked Ofilia.

"Yeah."

"I sent your brother out one night for Pod Thai, fried chicken and mint Oreos so spill what do you want," said Karen.

"I want to fry a Peep, like they do at the county fair with the fried candy bars." Karen just gave her a look.

"That is gross, you hate Peeps too."

"I know I hate them, Frankie and I have been trading Peeps for jelly beans for years, yet I think I would commit murder for fried marshmallow goodness right now. My brain is telling me this is nasty but temptation is slowly winning." Karen and Ofilia laughed at her.

"We could send the boys out for a Peep run," said Ofilia.

"Give them something useful to do other than scare fifteen year old boys," said Karen

"Nah, it's gross it will pass, god fried Peep," Jenna cringed. The music changed to a slower number and the three women went back to the table and sat down.

"So what did you threaten to do to poor Alex?" asked Ofilia. Jonathan faked being shocked.

"I did nothing of the sort, we had a chat with him."

"Frankie," said Karen in a warning tone and he shrugged.

"I was just introducing Greg to a time honored tradition." Jenna looked at Greg.

"What did you to him?"

"Nothing," she glared at him and he broke. "Told him what I did for a living…hey you like this song, it's the Lifehouse version too, let's dance."

"You're still in trouble," said Jenna letting him take her out to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as the bump would let them get.

_Oh simple thing where have you gone?  
I'm getting old and I need something to rely on  
So tell me when you're gonna let me in  
I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin_

So if you have a minute why don't we go  
Talk about it somewhere only we know?  
This could be the end of everything  
So why don't we go  
Somewhere only we know?

"What did you tell him, you either tell me or I send you on a hunt for fried Peeps," said Jenna.

"Fried Peeps?" asked Greg grinning.

"Yes, fried marshmallow things."

"I told him if he hurt Millia I would make sure that no one knew he was missing. After seven years of work in CSI you know how to hide a body."

"Well it beats Frankie threatening to remove things, I have to give you an A for being creative. God I want a Peep so bad," Greg started laughing.

"Do you want me to get you a Peep?"

"No Peeps are nasty, just stay here with me, it will pass and…oh my god," said Jenna looking down at her bump.

"What? Are you ok?" asked Greg alarmed, they were in the second trimester and miscarrying odds went down a lot after getting in to the second trimester.

"It kicked, oh my god, it kicked." Jenna put his hand on the bump. "Do you feel that?" He wanted a few moments and he felt it, something was defiantly moving around.

"Holy shit," he looked down at the bump and back up at her and she was smiling and her eyes were shining.

"Wow, it's wow. If I had known craving nasty marshmallow chicks would get it kicking I would have started wanting them ages ago." He pulled her close and rested his head on hers.

"Do you think I'll be a good dad?"

"I know you'll be good dad, you already have scaring teenage boys down. You're gonna do a good job." She put her head on his chest and enjoyed the small kicks the baby was making.

Notes-My friend was telling me about this craving she had for fried hot pocket a few weeks ago and her brain knew it was nasty, but she still wanted it. Crazy Preggo.

I am not Mexican so what I know about Quinceañeras is from online research and info from a woman at work, her daughter's Quince is next year and they are planning for it right now. They sound really cool though, if I got something wrong I am sorry, I blame the internet and second hand info.

Songs

In my life-By Chantal Kreviazuk

Somewhere only we know-Redone by Lifehouse

I'm thinking about creating a playlist on Youtube of the songs I've used in the fic so far along with the Quinceañera dance…and they are really good. If you're interested please let me know so I can put the list together and give out the link to the list.

Thanks for the reviews, adds and alerts.


	20. Names

Names

March 2007

"They can't tell if the umbilical cord or a penis. Do you think you can clear it up?" asked Greg handing the ultrasound photo to Archie. Archie started to laugh.

"God it is a slow night, but I think this is as good as it's going to get."

"It was worth a shot, I guess I'll just have deal with the wait and see approach that Jenna told me I would have to take."

"So can I be a little nosy and ask what your hoping for?" asked Archie.

"It sounds sexist, but I want a boy…just so I don't have to be the sweating, heart palpating dad at the door. If you tilt it this way it kind of looks like a penis, please be a penis," said Greg.

The night was slow and Greg was hanging out in Archie's lab, back when he was a lab rat, he and Archie had spent a lot of time in each other's labs when things were slow, either swapping game cheats or swapping date night stories.

"I have my DS if you wanna play Mario Party," said Archie.

"Sweet, game me," said Greg. Archie reached into a drawer and pulled out two DS and handed one to Greg, he pulled out a cord so the two of them could play together."

I want be Yoshi," said Greg. The two started playing Bowser's pinball machine when Archie started talking again.

"So how are you taking it?" Greg muttered something foul at the game and looked up at Archie.

"Taking what? Well I'm kind of pissed off at the freaking lizard that won't let go to the next level. Oh damn I died."

"No I mean that in about four months you're going to a parent, how are you taking that?" asked Archie.

"I'm still a little freaked out of my mind, but I'm happy. I mean I'm always happy about it but there are times I wonder if it's a good idea bring kids into the world, like when we had to deal with that case about the dead high school basketball player, I know how messed up the world is and they were just kids and looked what they did to each other. But at the same time I really can't wait to meet the little snot that has me going on milkshake runs at the end of shift."

Jenna had called Greg one night last week and asked him to bring home a milkshake. He did and than she went to the store and bought the fixings for a least six more milkshakes, than she sent him out to get more milkshake stuff.

They saw Dr. Minhi last week and he approved of the milkshake cravings, provided that they have lots of milk and fruit. Jenna had gone from 115 to about 130 and she was really starting to show now and the baby, who refused to cooperate during the ultrasound and the sex reminded undetermined, was very active and Jenna told him it was as bad as him, they never knew when to be still.

"So do you have any names picked out?" asked Archie. "Naming it is a serious thing, you give your kid a bad name and it screws them up forever."

"Speaking from experience?" asked Greg.

"I knew a kid from grade school whose name was Sundae, the jokes, oh man the jokes; I think she ended up working in porn." Greg laughed and went to say something to Archie when Nick popped his head in the lab.

"Hey our slow night just picked up, five DB's all in one house, all showgirls. We got go."

"Duty calls," said Greg leaving the lab.

"Later," said Archie.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg was told by Warrick when he got to the scene to go upstairs, find Grissom and help him process a room upstairs. Sara was taking a break, she had been processing a room when a six victim reached out from under the bed and died while Sara was talking to her. He made a note to go and talk to her later on during shift; both of them hadn't really talked since their other halves had returned home. Greg made his way carefully up the stairs so he wouldn't mess up the blood spatter that Catherine was working and walked past Dave.

"Some night, can you start taking pictures so I can get the poor girl to the morgue?" asked Dave.

"Sure thing," said Greg walking into the room, a woman was on the bed curled up in fetal position with her pants around her ankles and blood soaking into the bedspread. He shook his head and looked over at Grissom who was studying a window with a night vision scoop.

"What did you find?" asked Greg.

"Partial footprint, whoever tried to kick out this window was barefoot." Greg looked back to the woman on the bed; she had on a pair of gray socks.

"She's wearing socks," said Greg out loud, more to himself than Grissom.

"Some of the other girls weren't," said Grissom.

"Maybe one of the other girls was in here at some point," Greg started looking around the room, posters of rap stars and photos of a young black girl where all over the place, one that caught his attention was one of a young black girl in pool with her parents.

_Her niece, cousin, her little sister maybe, _thought Greg. He shook his head and made himself focus.

"I don't think this was her room," the woman on the bed was white and she didn't look like a rap fan.

"What else do you see?" asked Grissom. Greg noticed a white sheet on the floor that was in pieces.

"I think the bindings where cut from this sheet and that takes at least several minutes to cut up a sheet," said Greg. Grissom nodded and looked around again.

"When he came to this house he was unprepared. He had to use things that were easy to get to. They say a disorganized killer is likely to get his victims by chance, killing whoever crosses his path." Greg sighed and pulled out his camera and started taking pictures of the girl on the bed, Dave and another morgue guy came back ten minutes later and took the girl with them. Greg sighed and started taking pictures of the other girls in the room down the hall.

_God this is going to be a long night._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg came into the morgue a few hours later to get the foot prints of the girls from the house, Becca, Emily, Libby, Lauren, Jen, and Cammie. Becca had been the girl on the bed when he first came into the house, Cammie had been the one Sara watched die, Warrick had grown up with Emily, Libby's mom had called her cell and Hodges broke the news to her that her daughter was dead, Lauren had just moved into the house a few weeks ago and than there was Jen.

Doc Robbins had noted fractures all over her; she had been beaten, than raped, than killed.

_It's just a name…actually Jen is just a nickname that people use sometime for Jenna...including you._ He sighed and looked at her, other than a hair color they really had nothing more in common than a name. He took a footprint from her and headed back upstairs to do the comparisons; he went into a layout room and started doing the compassions when Hodges poked his head in.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Greg was tired, he was starting a double but he had a feeling that Hodges wasn't in the mood to be pissy with him, so Greg pulled out a chair next to him and motioned for Hodges to come in. Hodges sat down and was quite for a few minutes and Greg knew when he was ready he would talk.

"How do you not bring this home with you?" Greg looked up.

"What?"

"This, this case, these people how do you not bring them home?" Before Greg could say anything Hodges was going on. "I'm a lab rat; I'm a lab rat for a reason. I deal with things, not people and it's for a good reason. With things, you don't have to feel something for a thing. I deal with objects because they can be put away nice and neat at the end of a day. A person shoe is just that, it's a shoe. You don't feel sorry for a shoe at the end of the day. They get processed, they get put away in a locker and maybe someone comes and gets them at the end of the case for closure, but I don't deal with them. I deal with just the shoe. I just, you know what forget I said anything. I don't know why I came in here," said Hodges standing up and getting ready to leave the room.

"I really don't know how I don't bring it home. Sofia told me once that we go home, we have a beer, watch some TV, we hug the first thing we can get our hands on, we go to sleep and than we come in and do it again."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" asked Hodges stopping at the doorway.

"You know I asked Sofia the same thing, she told me to not lose who I was. So Hodges, don't lose your rep has the lab's hard ass and suck up." Hodges nodded and left the room. Greg went back to his compassions and went something sink, the footprint matched Jen.

_You know, Jenna would do the same thing…she would fight back, try to get away._ _Even if it meant her life to save the others. _He sighed and went to find Sara and tell her what he found. She was in the break room downing a coffee and Red Bull combo.

"You know all that caffeine is bad for your heart," said Greg pouring himself some coffee.

"I just need a few more hours of perk and coming from the guy who used to go through two to three pots a shift, I think the pot and kettle called for you," said Sara tossing the cups in the trash.

"I have your compassions," said Greg.

"Walk with me than, I have another interview to do," said Sara.

"The partial footprint Grissom lifted from the window belong to Jen."

"According to Catherine's attack order, he was with Cammie first than Jen. He didn't get sloppy with Cammie he got distracted."

"So he was with Cammie when Jen tried to get away," said Greg. _God it feels weird saying her name and it's not our Jen._

"She tried to kick her way out and he heard her and decided to put a stop to it. That explains all of her fractures, he kicked the crap out of her," said Sara bitterly. Greg remembered how getting kicked felt and knew she didn't go out easy.

"So he beats her, cleans off the knife and than drags her down the hall to rape and kill her," said Greg. _I hope we catch this bastard and send him to a slow death._

"It explains why he didn't go back to Cammie," said Sara.

"You gonna be ok?" asked Greg. He knew it was a dumb question, but she was his friend and sometimes it's just nice to know someone thought enough to ask.

"I will after we catch this bastard. How are you, Jenna know you're working this case?" asked Sara.

"Yeah I sent her text saying I would be pulling a double, maybe even a triple till we catch this guy. I sent the bindings over to Wendy and she's running them for DNA, she's a little back logged but the bindings are on the top."

"That's good, hey I got do that interview. I'll see you later." Sara walked off down the hall and Greg headed to DNA to see what Wendy had.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

"Ok these are Libby's bindings; they have Libby's epithelial cells and Jen's. Jen's bindings had her epithelial cells and Emily's and so on and so on. Each binding had the girl who was tied up with it and another girl from the house," said Wendy handing the report to Greg.

"So the freak made them tie each other up, nice guy really considerate. I'll take this to Grissom," said Greg.

"Thanks, he looked really depressed and I don't know if it's the screaming type of depressed or the moody, either way I don't wanna deal with him right now so thanks," said Wendy turning back to the computer to see if made CODIS had given her anything yet. Greg went into Grissom's office and he was buried in a file with the case photos seeing if he missed anything. Greg sat the report down on his desk and explained to him what Wendy had found and Grissom confirmed Greg's thoughts about the guy making each girl tie each other up.

"Thank you Greg," said Grissom with a sigh.

"It was all Wendy," said Greg making sure that credit went where it was due; he turned to head out of the office when Grissom called him back in. _Oh this is never good_.

"About the civil suit that was filed by the family of Demetrius James, the DA decided not to go to trial." Greg closed his eyes and sighed. "So the City has agreed to a pay out of 2.5 million." His jaw dropped and his eyes got wide what the hell was the deal.

"2.5 million? That's like saying I'm the guilty one." He couldn't believe it, everything that he went through since that night seem to mean nothing he felt cold inside. Grissom sighed.

"Its politics, the City wants to cut their losses." _So that's what I am, a loss._

"So they really did throw me under the bus." Grissom nodded.

"It comes with the job." Greg nodded and went to see if anymore help was needed. He couldn't help but feel annoyed, a loss that's what they city viewed him as. He went back into the layout room and started looking through the photos again, his eyes burned, he had been at this for more than thirty hours. It was almost 2 am, he yawned and Grissom poked his head in the layout room.

"Greg, you're almost over clocked on overtime, why don't you go home?"

"But…"

"Go home, Nick can handle whatever is left," said Grissom in his 'don't ask questions' tone. Greg sighed, punched out and headed home. He couldn't help but feel let down. He loved his job; it seemed to be a one sided relationship though.

_They were willing to throw Nick under a bus a few years back when he was kidnapped and the city wouldn't pay the ransom. They don't deal with terrorist was the reason…but it's alright to pay the family of someone who was going to possibly kill you and another guy 2.5 million dollars. _He sighed and drove a little faster, he was tired and really wanted to go to bed.

_So it's my fault that he was out beating people up and god damn, how is it my fault that he was out that night…why didn't he just run away like the other kids he could have been alive if he had just ran away._ Greg parked the car and went into the apartment, and made sure that the door was bolted shut. Gabriel jumped out the couch and rubbed on Greg's legs. Greg picked him up and started petting him and carried him in to the bedroom and sat him on the bed. Jenna was sleeping; she had taken his pillow and was curled up with it. He stripped down to his boxers and went to take the pillow away from Jenna.

"Huh what…" she sat up half asleep and went to take the pillow back.

"Relax…shush it's me." She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Oh…hey you're home early," she scooted over and let him have the pillow. He crawled into the bed with her and started rubbing the bump. He gave a small smile in the dark; the bump was a little bigger he pulled her a little closer to him and started rubbing the bump.

"You're going to wake the baby up," muttered Jenna still half asleep.

"You can tell when it's sleeping?" asked Greg.

"Mmhhh doesn't move as much when it's sleeping. It was really awake a bit ago. It was just kick after kick."

She was wide awake now and had a feeling that Greg wanted to talk about something, or else he just would have let her sleep. She rolled over and faced him; he looked really tried she had heard about the case of the six murdered girls on the news and got his text around 10 am that he would be working late. To see him home before sunrise was a surprise.

"What's up?" she asked him taking one of his hands. He squeezed it and thought about everything that had happened over the past 30 some hours.

"One of the girls had your name, well your nickname. Her name was Jen Missy, 24, she was born in Vegas. Her mom moved to Seattle and is flying in to get her daughter this morning. She fought back, tried to get away…you would have done the same thing, fight back, try to get away."

"Was she Italian? The stubborn streak comes naturally, we don't know when to quit. You gonna be ok?" He shook his head no and gave Jenna a hug.

"2.5 million."

"What?"

"On top of the case, I found out that the city agreed to a payout of 2.5 million to the family of Demetrius James instead of going to trial, I got thrown under the bus for being alive." He sighed. "It's a nice way of saying it's my fault, here have a couple million, it makes up for all the pain and suffering that we've all gone through for the past six months. They put a price tag on their family member, how can you do that?" Jenna moved a little closer to him and put his hands on the bump.

"You can't."

"They're blaming me again though."

"We don't, remember what I told you. What they think doesn't matter. You're a good person and you did what anyone would have done," She hugged him and Greg started to feel warm, she looked him in the eyes and kissed him.

"Will I hurt you if…" asked Greg putting a hand on her hip.

"No."

"Good." He kissed her again and started to pull off her night shirt.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

He woke up around eight the morning to the smell of coffee and pancakes. It was her day to work from home and she was making breakfast. He took a shower, got dressed and went into the kitchen. Jenna was sitting at the table and eating the pancakes with some juice.

"I get sex and pancakes all in the same day, nice," said Greg helping himself to a stack.

"I can take those away if you don't behave." She looked down and frowned at the bump. "Yeah yeah you're hungry I get it, stop kicking for a second and I'll keep eating." She took another fork full of pancake and kept eating. Greg looked up and grinned.

"Can I feel, please?" She got up and walked over to him; he put his hand on the bump and grinned.

"It's cool to feel it move, to know you have a little mini us inside you." It kicked Greg again and hard.

"Alright the food is coming," said Jenna stabbing a pancake off his plate and than returned to her seat and breakfast.

"You know we should start thinking about what to name the baby, we don't want to stick it with a lame name," said Greg.

"Um, if we have a boy I like the name Roman," said Jenna. Greg frowned at her and took a sip of the coffee.

"Roman? Where did you hear a name like that?"

"I met a comic book artist named Roman at an event I was catering and he was a really cool guy, he did work on Invader Zim. I like the name Roman."

"The other kids will beat him up."

"No they won't, he'll be the cool kid. The girls will follow him around chanting his name."

"Ethan," suggested Greg.

"That will get him an ass whooping, it sounds prissy. Toby, how about Toby…no that will get him an ass whooping," said Jenna.

"Well, Toby…Toby Sanders it's different. Toby Ethan Sanders," said Greg.

"I'll go with Ethan for the middle name. Any ideas for a girl?" asked Jenna.

"I like Jessica."

"No. No to Jessica, Stephanie, Tiffany, Rachel, Amber, or Courtney. Those are names I swore I would never name my daughter."

"Why not?"

"All the girls I have know with the above mentioned names turned out to be bitches. I will not raise a bitch," said Jenna finished her pancakes.

"Alright, Nina, Mina, Sabrina…toss something out here," said Greg.

"I like the name Katie." Greg thought about it.

"My mom was going to name my little sister Katie, but when she was stillborn my mom decided to go with a name my dad wanted, Cassie."

"If you want to pick something else…"

"No I like Katie, Katie Sabrina Sanders," suggested Greg.

"So we had Toby Ethan Sanders and Katie Sabrina Sanders. Are we set on these names? Speak now before I put them in the baby book."

"Baby book?"

"Your mom sent it here the other day." Jenna went into the living room and got a white hardbound book off the table. "It's a baby book, you keep records of what you felt like when you found out, ultrasound pictures, first baby pictures, ect. It has a section for the name debate." Jenna flipped it open and grabbed a pen.

"Names mommy and daddy thought about: Ethan, Roman, Nina, Jessica," said Jenna out loud while she wrote in the book. Greg took the book from her and started looking through it.

"My mom went overboard with mine, did you have one?" asked Greg.

"I have a shadow box some where; my mom was busy when she had me. I was lucky to be baptized."

"So the baby has a name…what do we call until we figure out what it is?" asked Greg. Jenna looked at the bump and grinned.

"Fidget. It's like you, always fidgeting; you can tell it's your kid it doesn't want to be still for a second."

"Ok, Fidget it is." Greg took the baby book from her and wrote in the 'other names' page, Fidget.


	21. What is owed

What is owed?

March 2007

About two weeks after the showgirl case, Greg was working another high profile case. Surprisingly it was a face from the past, Drops a promotional manager for the rapper Dollar, he and his friend Champ Landley had been shot at and had driven off the road. Drops lived, Champ hadn't been so lucky. Greg was now digging bullets out a brick wall near the scene. He looked over and saw Grissom walking towards him with his favorite person in the world: David Hodges.

_It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for digging out bullets and dealing with the most annoying person you know._ Hodges took off his sunglasses and looked at the scene with distain.

"I was right, it's a lot like garbage collecting," said Hodges.

"You're not helping, Hodges," said Greg trying to dig the bullet out for Bobby to process.

"And I have no intention to. Field rotation with the lab techs was Ecklie's idea, I'm only here to observe." Greg bit back a groan and addressed Grissom.

"This neighborhood rains lead."

"And it's our job to process every drop of it," said Grissom.

"You're making Bobby Dawson's boat payment this month." Greg got the bullet out. "It looks like a .38 maybe a .357."

"It's a little small for the holes we found in the window," said Grissom. Hodges walked away and looked down.

"A little help over here," Greg and Grissom walked over to him and looked, he had found a bullet casing. Grissom picked it up carefully.

"This belongs to a 50 caliber, looks new. Could be from a Desert Eagle," said Grissom.

"Or a coffee shop, I can drink an espresso out of that thing," said Hodges.

_And now I remember why I love him so much, just when you think he's said the most annoying thing possible, he keeps talking._ Greg handed Grissom a bag and collected the bullet.

"The limo is back at the lab, I want you and Nick to process it ASAP. Hodges is going to hold bags while I collect," said Grissom with a small smile.

"Sounds fun. I'll report back later," said Greg handing the SUV.

"How comes he gets to go back to the lab," whined Hodges.

"Because I like you, now hold this," said Grissom.

_I love my job._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The limo was a mess, it had crashed and almost flipped over, and everything had been tossed around. Greg collected the drugs already and sent them to Henry upstairs, the bottles had gone to Mandy for prints, bullet casings to Bobby and Archie was looking over dozen cell phone cameras. Everyone in the lab was making out great with this case. Greg grabbed his camera and took a photo of a pattern in blood that was on a seat. He reached into the seat and found more skull bits from Landley, he bagged them and paged for a tech to take them to Robbins in the morgue. Nick came down and went to start working the glass fragments from the windows.

"Hey what's up Greggo?" asked Nick.

"More skull bits, semen stains on the seat. I don't know if they're recent and to think I wanted to take a limo to prom. The glass is over there." Nick pulled on some gloves and started piecing them together.

"So outside of work what's up?"

"I hate milkshakes, rice krispy treats and gyros," said Greg turning back to the limo, Nick started laughing.

"Did someone have to go out for a food run…you made her this way now deal with it," said Nick.

"I didn't think she would lose her mind, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a place that has gyros at one in the morning? And it had to be a certain way, it wasn't right the first two times I tried and I had to go back across town to get a new one. Than it turns out she wanted them from a place that was down the street."

"Did she eat the first two?" asked Nick.

"She couldn't let them go to waste…and I think the clerks at Trader Joe know me as the marshmallow/milkshake guy. I'm there at least one night a week getting rice krispy stuff or milkshake stuff. However, we have reached week twenty and it's the mid way point and if I can survive the next twenty some weeks, it will be worth it. God I hope it's worth it." Nick started laughing.

"My sister sent her husband on a food hunt one night to find her egg rolls and peanut butter, mind you they live in the middle of no where and the nearest place with egg rolls was five miles away oh and it was three in the morning in the middle of a snow storm. So I think you're getting off easy." Nick started putting the glass together.

"Well I think I have found all the skull bits and bullets. Oh hey…a hundred dollar bill. Must be nice to just toss these around, so we have coke, booze, hundred dollar bills, and semen stains, wild night gone wrong?" suggested Greg.

"I wonder if Dollar will be sending us suits again if we clear his boy, I think the homeless will be grateful," said Nick.

"Can't believe you gave a five thousand dollar suit away…I almost cried when you told me you did that. Jenna got to meet Drops once," said Greg.

"Really what did they want?" asked Nick.

"He wanted Jenna to design them a cake and dessert table for a party promoting Dollar's clothing line. She made over seven grand in less than two hours from them, not to mention all the other people he sent her way since than. It's a little small world weird."

"To Jenna he's a customer; to us he's a guy who could be lying. Tell her I'm sorry if I screw her out of business in the future and this guy goes to jail," said Greg.

"Ah don't worry wedding season is coming up, she'll be fine." Greg's pager went off with a page from Bobby Dawson. "Well I think it's a record for Bobby, three hours and he has all my bullets ran. I'm gonna go up stairs, change and poke Bobby for my report, is Grissom back yet?"

"Yeah and he made sure that Hodges was put back in his lab safe and sound."

"Damn," muttered Greg heading upstairs.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Tell Grissom my loan officer thanks him. Fifty nine casings, nothing in AFIS though.But I can give you what type and caliber the gun was," said Bobby handing Greg a report.

"You are the best Bobby," said Greg taking the report down the hall to Grissom. Greg went in to the office, where Grissom had case photos and notes all over his desk. Greg sat down across from him and gave him Bobby's report and that the gun had been a Desert Eagle handgun. The blood on the seat and the report from Dr. Robbins showed that Drops story was checking out so far. That was until Nick walked in and asked them to look at something with a grin on his face. Grissom raised his eyebrows and both men went back to a layout room, Nick had finished putting the windows together.

"There were two shots from these windows, different size holes, different sized caliber," said Nick. Greg looked at the windows, one hole was the size of a golf ball, and the others were much smaller.

"The big one matches the .50," said Greg.

"But check out the beveling from the impact," said Nick. Greg leaned in a closer and looked; the beveling went in different directions and he pointed that out to Grissom.

"Tinting film is applied to the inside of a window, so the small caliber round came from inside the limo," said Grissom. Nick pulled out another report and explained to them that cracks in the window came together from shots fired inside and outside the limo.

"Someone in the limo had a gun," said Greg. They hadn't found a gun yet and the limo was cleared.

"Drops wasn't telling us the whole story," said Grissom and we went to call Brass and have him bring Drops in.

"Tell Jen I'm sorry that her cash cow is a liar," said Nick.

"Just feed her a gyro she'll get over it." His pager went off again and it was from Henry this time. "Busy night, later," said Greg and he went down the hall to find Henry.

"Henry four hours later and you have my report, Bobby is kicking your ass my friend." Henry rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry that breaking down someone's blood is more complex than running bullets through a computer. I don't even know why I ran them; the limo driver didn't have any drugs or alcohol in him."

"Really, what about Drops?" asked Greg.

"Nothing, along with your head shot Vic… the club scene is getting really tame these days," said Henry with a small sigh.

"Don't worry it won't put you out of a job yet. Anything on the roll up hundred?"

"Positive for cocaine, along with every other one hundred dollar bill in the country," said Henry. Greg was confused, why have coke and no one doing it, it was a waste of money and dumb if they had gotten pulled over they would have been busted for possession…why possess it and not do it.

"Can I see the money, maybe I can get some DNA off it." Henry raised an eyebrow.

"I see the lab rat is still strong in you grasshopper."

"Once a rat, always a rat." He followed Henry back to his lab and got the bag with the money in it.

"Wendy is going to hurt you when she finds you in her lab," said Henry.

"Hey I broke that lab in, it's like an old friend. Maybe I should bring it some flowers or some candy, tell it how much I missed it's test tubes." Henry shook his head.

"Oh Wendy found your Playboy October 2004 in a reference book the other day. I thought you stopped that after the lab blew up and Warrick found an issue slightly burned on wall."

"I had to leave something behind when I went into the field, just a reminder of who the DNA Daddy is," said Greg taking the bag.

"I pity Jenna and your child," said Henry turning his back to Greg to run another sample. Greg headed down the hall, Wendy wasn't in her lab and Greg took the bill out of the bag and tacked it down and pulled out a zoom camera and started to look at the bill a little closer.

_Yeah snot, DNA pay dirt,_ thought Greg.

"You know, if your still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that this is no longer your lab, I suggest counseling," said Wendy coming up behind him. Greg laughed.

"I would like you to run this for me please?" Wendy looked down.

"Oh goodie, boogers on a nose straw."

"Are there any other kind?" asked Greg, Wendy started to laugh.

"Well in recognition for your years of loyal service I will put it on the top of my list."

"Thank you," said Greg turning to leave.

"I better not find anymore porn though, I don't get what is it with you guys and fake boobs?" asked Wendy swabbing the money

"I suggest you stay away from DNA: The Secret of Life, bottom shelf to the right. Playboy: centerfold Charisma Carpenter June 2004. And those boobs were very real," said Greg.

"I should hit you, but I want you out of my lab…so go," said Wendy pushing him out.

"If you need me, I'll be lab five, I get to play with Drops and the victim's dirty clothes," said Greg.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Damn I would have to drop at least three months of paychecks for something this nice,_ thought Greg. He was looking for the matching pattern he had found in the blood on the seat. The suit was silk blend and it defiantly didn't leave the pattern he was looking for. He sighed, maybe he was looking for something else, maybe another person had been in the limo, but no one saw another person. If there had been another person, wouldn't Drops want to blame that person for the gun? If didn't make sense. He looked at the suit again.

_Shame about the suit though, blood and brains do not come out with Shout._ Wendy walked into the lab and she looked really awkward.

"Hey I got your DNA results," she said quietly. _Maybe I can find the Cinderella who has my blood pattern._

"Yeah…" he waited for her to give him the results and she just fiddled with the papers in her hands. "And?" asked Greg prompting her.

"There were two donors on the straw, one unknown female and a half known male," said Wendy.

"So a sibling match?" asked Greg wondering if the people from Drops incident last year were involved somehow.

"Yeah." Wendy sighed and decided to spit it out. "Greg the match belongs to the brother of Demetrius James." The world seem to shift and freeze and Greg damn near yanked the report out of Wendy's hands._ It will never go away will it, the feelings of guilt._ He read it three times and handed back to Wendy.

"Run it again."

"I did I ran it three times…you know and I know that DNA is DNA and it doesn't lie. I'm sorry," said Wendy.

"It's not your fault," said Greg feeling a massive headache come on suddenly.

"Do you want me to tell Grissom…"

"No I'll do it, thanks Wendy." He took the report and walked blindly to Grissom's office.

_"YOU DIDN'T RUN OVER A MOB YOU RAN OVER ONE BOY! MY BOY!" You still remember that night don't you, the nightmares are gone, but you can still recall it like it just happened. The sound of him hitting the car like a melon, the sounds of Marla James crying for her son, that look Aaron James gave you at the inquest and at the hospital that night. If he could have killed you he would have._ Greg shook his head and decided to go outside for a moment to breath. What god did he piss off in his last life to earn this? He sighed and sat down on the bench, he would have to tell Grissom soon.

_The Under sheriff is going to love this._ Greg got up and headed back inside to give what he found to Grissom.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

"You know this isn't your fault, you didn't put him in that limo," said Grissom after looking over the DNA report.

"I know that," said Greg leaning back in the chair, Grissom looked unconvinced but said nothing.

"We got something back from Archie a bit ago, it looks like a person getting out of the limo," said Grissom handing him a photo. Greg studied it, it was blurry, he made a black kid in a yellow hoodie, but he couldn't make out a face though.

"It won't be enough to get a warrant," said Greg handing him the photo.

"The DNA might. I'll call Jeff and see what he says," said Grissom reaching for his phone.

"Great, this is just great," said Greg tapping his foot.

"You didn't put him in the limo, DNA did so knock it off," said Grissom getting off the phone with McKeen. "We have to meet him in the layout room." Greg got up and followed Grissom to the layout room. Grissom got the computer ready that showed the picture taken from the cell phone camera and got the DNA reports ready. McKeen stormed in and glared at both men.

"What the hell is going on? I thought we were done dealing the family of Demetrius James and you drag it back up," snapped McKeen looking at Greg.

"It's not his fault, Drops was the one who brought the James family back to the lab." Grissom showed McKeen the picture from the cell camera.

"This image was captured from a cell phone at the scene. We believe that to be Aaron James." McKeen looked annoyed.

"That fuzzy blob?"

"We have more evidence of Aaron James inside the limo," said Greg.

"I hope it's better than this photo."

"His DNA along with traces of cocaine on a rolled up one hundred dollar bill found inside the limo." McKeen groaned and glared at both of them.

"That doesn't place him in the limo, that bill could have come from anywhere." _Yeah it blew in from the street and got hidden in the limo seat cushions._

"We found a pattern in the blood in the seat next to the victim that didn't come from Drops or the limo driver. So there was one other person in that limo and we need to question Aaron James," said Grissom calmly.

"This City just paid Aaron James and his mother 2.5 million dollars because you ran his brother over," snapped McKeen at Greg. _Because I forgot that happened, gee thanks for the reminder. _"Are you trying to find a way to give them more money?"

_Why yes, we have it all planned out, I kill the kid, they sue the City, you give them a huge payout and than they make sure that they somehow get into another crime scene and they sue the City again, only this time I get the money and I retire at the age of 31. _

"I'm just trying to do my job," snapped Greg.

"You wanna talk to Aaron James; give me more than a fuzzy blob on a screen and snot on a bill. This is a PR nightmare in the making," said McKeen growing louder by the second. PR, god was that all he cared about.

_We took this job to solve crimes, to help people and all he cares about is how this might make him look in front of the City. You gotta make him understand that PR is gonna have to take a holiday. _

"We still don't have a murder weapon, Aaron James could be destroying evidence right now," said Greg. McKeen turned around and got in his face.

"First of all: Stop talking. You're off the case." He looked at Grissom. "Everything he touched gets reprocessed." That was a backhand bitch slap if there ever was one. Insulting him was one thing, insulting his work ethics was another.

"There is nothing wrong with my work," said Greg looking to Grissom hoping for some help.

"I know that this is just procedure," said Grissom and somehow that pissed Greg off even more. _Procedure…is that why I got treated like shit at the inquest or why the City decided to pay off the family of a kid who was mugging and beating people to death? I think procedure can go fuck itself._

"Oh procedure," snapped Greg wanting to say more when McKeen cut him off.

"Open your mouth one more time and I'll suspend you. I'm trying to avoid a harassment suit here; this is cover our ass time." _Meaning your ass not mine._ McKeen turned to walk out, but he turned back and looked at Greg. "You know this would have been so much easier if you had been the black guy."

Greg was shaking from how pissed off he was, he wondered if Sara felt this way when she yelled at Ecklie two years ago. Maybe getting suspended wouldn't be so bad; Greg felt Grissom put a hand on his shoulder.

"He's not worth it; he will never understand what this job really means to us. I can give you another case to work. I'll skim through what you processed, I know your work is fine, McKeen cares about McKeen not the job, do you understand me?" asked Grissom. Greg nodded and took a deep breath.

"Thanks for making sure I didn't do anything dumb." Grissom nodded.

"I have a backlog of paperwork; it will give you some time to cool off." Greg left the layout room and went back into Grissom's office and grabbed a stack of files from his desk.

_It's still a bunch of bullshit though, I would like to see McKeen go through what you've gone through the past few months, and it was worth more than 2.5 million…what we could have lost._ Greg went into a spare room and started working the files trying to forget McKeen's parting remark. _Yeah because Warrick hitting a black kid would have been better, it would still be a them versus us deal. _He wondered how Jenna dealt with race remarks; he had been with her once when some assholes had made remarks about him screwing the maid one night when they were out. He wanted to beat the shit out of them, but Jenna told him to let it go. He couldn't believe that she was so dismissive about it.

"_I've dealt with ignorant assholes my whole life and trust me; I've been called some nasty names. But if you let it get to you than you're no better than they are. By letting them get to you, it's saying that they're right about me and they're not." She kissed him on the cheek and made them both some tea._ He sighed and started doing the paperwork. _Just think you may get off shift on time for once._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

He had been at it for a few hours when Sara popped in. She handed him a cup of coffee and a muffin, pulled up a chair and sat down across from him.

"I heard you were about to follow in my footsteps. Trust me, getting suspend without pay sucks ass and you'll be bored out of your mind within three days and start calling us for case details." Greg looked up at her.

"My girlfriend is almost six months pregnant, I'm sure she'll find something to keep me busy…I heard a new gyro place was opening up in Summerland. I'm sure I'll be doing a food run there soon." Sara laughed.

"Considering she has a little person growing inside her I think you being made to find her food is the least you can do. How are you doing?"

"Annoyed, I was told that in not so many words that my work was questionable because of it involving Demetrius James's older brother. I didn't temper with evidence or put him in that limo." Greg sat aside the files he was working on and took the muffin and coffee. "If anything I don't want to deal with Demetrius James or his family ever again. McKeen just really pissed me off with his remark about it would have been easier if I had been the black guy. They still would have sued and the City still would have paid out. It wouldn't have mattered if I was black, white, brown or purple."

"McKeen doesn't see it like though; you're the annoying white boy who hit a black kid. You and McKeen forgot something though."

"What?"

"You saved another person's life that night. Demetrius James had taken the life of someone who was a father with two little boys earlier that night and probably didn't feel bad about it. You feel bad that you took his life that makes you a better person."

"Wish I felt like a better person," said Greg finishing the muffin.

"I have some good news for you, Sofia just brought in Aaron James. Turns out the unknown female on the nose straw belonged to Simone Molinez, the girl from Catherine's case."

"You're kidding," said Greg.

"Nope, I just thought you would like to know that you're not the bad guy in this." Sara got up and left the room and Greg sat there for a minute.

_Don't you want to know why he was in that limo?_ Greg knew that if he got caught he would be running Jenna's food errands on suspension, but he wanted to know why. He left the layout room and asked one of the uniforms where Sofia was, the cop pointed him towards interrogation room five. Greg snuck into the observing room next to it and looked in on Aaron James, his lawyer and Sofia. Aaron was leaning back in the chair with a smug look on his face. _It's nice to know that his brother's death is really hurting him. _The lawyer was flipping through the reports and photos with a dismissive attitude, saying that there was nothing there to place Aaron in the limo. _DNA just magical spawn on the money,_ thought Greg.

"How about this, a piece of Champ Landley skull found in the hood of your sweater. I say you were there," said Sofia. Aaron's lawyer leaned and whispered something to Aaron before addressing Sofia.

"Scared kid makes a couple of dumb mistakes; it's peer pressure it's a misdemeanor at best. You want to put LVPD through PR hell for that?" _Wow peer pressure, these boys seem to cave to peer pressure,_ thought Greg bitterly.

"No not just that. Simone Molinez was dragged to death from your limo before the shoot out and if Aaron was in the limo while she was being dragged I say that makes him a prime suspect," said Sofia. Aaron's lawyer leaned in again and Aaron pushed him away.

"No way, hold up. I don't know this girl; she came up to Drops at the Gold Square." Aaron's lawyer went to shut him up and Aaron told him to shut up. "I didn't kill anybody."

"What's Drops doing at a dump like the Gold Square?" asked Sofia.

"Drops grew up in that hood; guess he just wanted to claim his old territory. We walked in there and man we owned the place, picking up a girl in there was like stealin'. Drops been trying to open up his own club and asked me if I wanted to invest, before I got my money a guy like Drops wouldn't even say 'Wat up' too me let alone ask me out to talk business. I felt like a big shot so what's the big deal?" asked Aaron. _I think the dead girl and the other dead guy are a big deal._

"We think it's that big shot attitude is exactly what got you shot. Taking that girl out of Gold Square, you pissed off a couple of locals. Everyone knows that Drops spends his nights on The Strip and they were waiting for you," said Sofia calmly. Aaron bit the inside of cheek and thought.

"Look I had nothing to do with that and I definitely didn't kick that girl out the limo." A light went off in Greg's head…kicked out… if she had her seatbelt on and if someone kicked her out of the limo it would explain how she got dragged.

"Than who did?" asked Sofia, Aaron's lawyer stepped in.

"Aaron I suggest that in less you wanna go to jail you don't say another word." Aaron leaned back in his chair and glared.

"You heard the suit lady, I'm shutting up." Sofia sighed.

"I'll get my answers one way or another…and if you have to spend the night in a cell away from that nice new house, than so be it." Sofia had a uniform take Aaron to holding and Greg made sure that the lawyer and Sofia were gone before Greg left the observing room. _Kicked out...we gotta tell Sara, you're still off the case but Sara can look at the body._ Greg walked down the halls until he found Sara walking away from the DNA labs.

"Simone Molinez was kicked out the limo." Sara gave him a look.

"Nana Olaf's sixth sense finally kick in?" He followed her down the hall.

"I was in the observing room next to Aaron James and I…" Sara cut him off.

"You observed the interview! If the Under Sheriff had seen you we would have crime scene here in the lab."

"Well I'm still off the case and besides I just happened to be 'listening' when Aaron said 'he didn't _kick_ the girl out of the limo.'" Sara understood what he was getting at.

"You want me to check the body?"

"Well bruises become more noticeable after a body starts decomposing, so just see if we missed anything."

"I'm on it," said Sara. Judy seemed to yelling at someone from down the hall and Greg heard the voice of someone he really didn't want to hear right now.

"There he is! That's the one I'm looking for!" Marla James started marching down the hall towards him and he could almost recall Jenna's mom giving him a death glare like that once a very long time ago. Sara stepped between her and Greg, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Taking one of my boys wasn't good enough for you was it, now you gotta take both? What did we ever do to you?" asked Marla.

"Missus James I don't have anything against you or your family," said Greg and he meant it. He wanted to move with his life and try to forget that he had ever met the James family that night in October. He wished Aaron hadn't been in the limo, he wished DJ hadn't have been in the alley with Stanley Tanner. He felt sorry for this woman; her kids were causing her so much heartache.

_God let my kid turn out better._

"Than what is it? Is it about the money?" Greg sighed; it wasn't about the money why did everyone think that would fix the underlying issue here? "Than take it, I just want my boy back!"

"Missus James you need to calm down," said Sara.

"I'M NOT TALKING TO YOU!" screamed Marla and Judy's call to security finally arrived and took Marla by the arm.

"You're going to get yourself in trouble," said Sara calmly.

"Ma'am you're going to have to leave," said the officer and she gave them all a bitter smile.

"Protecting the nice white boy from the mean black lady," she went to get closer to Greg when the officer picked her up around her waist and started to drag her down the hall. "You gotta help me! You owe me! YOU OWE ME!!!!" The officer was dragging her past Judy's desk and she looked down the hall.

"I'm sorry Greg she just came out of nowhere." Judy was barely over 5 feet; she couldn't have stopped Marla even if she tried.

"It's not your fault Judy. Hey are you ok?" asked Sara. Greg shook his head.

"No I'm not!" He started down the hall where the officer had been taking Marla. _I owe her?!?! I owe her…does she think that she's the only one who's gone through hell the past few months?_ He thought about how he almost lost his job, could have gone to jail, almost lost Jenna because of what happened that night and he _owed_ her. Greg caught up with them close to the exit.

"What do I owe you?!" snapped Greg. Marla turned around and gave a laugh.

"Like you don't know!"

"I'll tell you what I know. I know Demetrius was a killer." Marla stopped walking and her shoulders sagged and Greg didn't care if he it hurt her; he was going to do something that the LVPD seemed scared to do and that was tell her the truth about her sons. "And Aaron…he made the decision to hang out with Drops. He made the decision to do drugs and to bring that girl into the limo. That's not on _me_. That's on _him_ and _you._" _These are your kids, not mine. I didn't tell them to go out and do what they did. They choose and you need to stop blaming me for their mistakes and yours._ Marla turned around and looked at him defeated; Greg saw the look in her eyes, she knew, deep down she knew the truth, it just hurt to admit it.

"Aaron is all I have left," she said sadly and she turned down the hall and walked away. Greg sighed; he knew how it felt to lose the one thing you had left, the thing that kept you going. He went back down the hall and thought what would happen to Aaron James if Drops sold him out.

_Jail…for a very long time, he's a dumb ass but his mother needs him. He's the one thing that keeps her going._ Greg knew that if it was anyone else he wouldn't do this, but he felt sorry for Marla James and knew this would fill the void that 2.5 million couldn't. He went outside and called Valerie Nichols's office and left her a message, he turned to head back inside when his phone went off.

"Sanders."

"You're not the only one who works at four in the morning. I was taking my second coffee break though, what can I do for you?" asked Nichols.

"You heard about the case involving Drops, Aaron James and that girl who died after being dragged?"

"Why do you think I'm at work, I'm getting ready to file charges this morning against Aaron James. Why?"

"Go easy on Aaron James, give him a misdemeanor or a reduced sentence or something that will have little to no jail time." The other line was quite.

"Is this some CSI prank that I'm not aware of?" asked Nichols.

"Nope."

"Greg, I know you feel guilty about what happened but…" Greg cut her off.

"It's not about me feeling guilty, it's about trying to help a family and a victim move on, it's not in the main CSI job description but I like to add it in there." Nichols sighed.

"I can't promise anything, it's up to my boss the head DA. I'll talk to him though, tell him that you called."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome and congratulations about your girlfriend and the baby…I heard through the courthouse grapevine. I hope they turn out like you." Nichols hung up the phone and Greg hung up his end and headed back inside to finish up his shift.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg was getting what he needed out of his locker when Grissom started talking to him from the doorway.

"The DA tells me you requested that he go easy on Aaron James." _The courthouse grapevine strikes again._

"Yeah?" asked Greg wondering if Grissom was here to lecture him about interfering in cases he was pulled from.

"He's getting a suspend sentence and he's being released." Greg nodded; he hoped that Aaron would do the right thing with his second chance and that he had done the right thing for Marla.

"If the kid's brother hadn't died, would you have done the same thing?" asked Grissom. Greg shrugged, if DJ hadn't have died, would they have sued the City and got the millions that lead Aaron to Drops? Things would have been different; he just wasn't sure how different.

"I don't know," answered Greg truthful. "I just…do you think it's wrong?"

"Doesn't matter what I think," said Grissom walking away. _In this case, no we didn't do the wrong thing, not if it helps someone move on with there life._ Greg shut his locker and headed out. He got in the car and decided to go visit Jenna at work, something he hadn't done in awhile, he stopped and got her some breakfast and than went to see her. Greg pulled into a parking spot and went inside the bakery; Megan looked up at him from the counter.

"Wow it's the ghost of Christmas past. You're girl is in the kitchen, coloring sugar paste. We even got her a little stool to sit on." Greg held up a baggie.

"Can she take a break so I can feed her second breakfast?" Megan grinned.

"Go up to her office and wait for her, I'll get her." Megan headed to the back and Greg headed up the stairs and into Jenna's office. He looked on her desk and noticed some of the photos had been updated; she had some of them with his parents at Thanksgiving, she had the one taken at Millia's Quinceañera and she had framed the ultrasound picture from a few weeks ago. Greg grinned and Jenna started talking to him.

"I heard something about second breakfast, if you have a bagel breakfast sandwich in that bag it would make you the most wonderful man in the world." Greg turned around; Jenna had officially gone into maternity clothes this month and Greg thought she looked beautiful.

"I even have hash browns and OJ for you." She gave him a huge kiss and took the bag from him. He sat down across from her and took his breakfast out of the bag. She took a huge bite from the sandwich and got egg on her chin.

"You got egg on your face, literally," said Greg. Jenna wiped it off and just grinned.

"Sue me. I just ate an hour ago and I'm starving, I swear we're gonna have a ten pound baby if it keeps up."

"So chubby babies are cute."

"I take it you were a fat baby."

"Over eight pounds, so what have you been introducing Fidget to today?"

Greg and Jenna had taken up the idea of trying to introduce the baby to music, if they were home together they pulled from their collection, Greg had tried to introduce the baby to Manson, Jenna told him no after one song because she was getting kicked and kicked hard. So far the baby seemed to take to more to Jenna's taste in music, which was a lot mellower than Greg's pissy white boy rock.

"One of the newbie's Sammy brought in some KT Tunstall. Not bad so far, mild kicking. Hold on a second," Jenna leaned over and clicked on the intercom.

"Hey Sammy can you turn the CD up so I can hear through the com?"

"Sure." The song started to filter through the com.

_Her face is a map of the world  
Is a map of the world  
You can see she's a beautiful girl  
She's a beautiful girl  
And everything around her is a silver pool of light  
The people who surround her feel the benefit of it  
It makes you calm  
She holds you captivated in her palm_

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)  
This is what I wanna be.

_Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)  
Why the hell it means so much to me_

"Yeah light kicking, actually I've noticed Fidget kicks more when you're around, it knows your voice."

"Really?"

"I looked it up; babies get used to certain voices and tend to react more to them. Try it," said Jenna. Greg pulled his chair over to Jenna and put his hand on her.

"Hey…hello in there." Something shifted and he tried again. "Are you being good? Behaving for mommy." He felt it again, movement. "It's a little weird talking to a bump." Jenna reached over and took his hash browns.

"So what's up?" Greg thought about telling her right now, but he decided to tell her later when she was home.

"Nothing, I just wanted to see you." She grinned at him.

"Thanks."

_Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)  
this is what I wanna be  
suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)  
Why the hell it means so much to me_

_Yeah I wanted to see you,_ thought Greg letting Jenna take the last of breakfast.

Notes- The episodes- Big Shots. The episode where Drops was first seen was in season 6 called Poppin Tags and yes he sent Nick and Brass very nice suits which they gave away. Greg probably did cry upon finding out they gave the suits away.

Playboy: centerfold Charisma Carpenter June 2004-Yes she was I did not make that up, My best's friend husband who is a huge Buffy fan bought the issue because she was in it…the fact that she was nude nothing to do with it was what he told his wife when she found it, it didn't stop her from throwing it out, and I think he did cry.

Music-KT Tunstall- Suddenly I see.

I'm working on the Youtube song list…I will post the link in my profile page later this week.


	22. Tricky little lab rats

Tricky little rats

May 2007

Jenna got off her stool and stretched, wedding season was starting to get in gear. It wouldn't full take effect for another two weeks. In June, when not only the tourist came in to get married but the locals wanted to start tying the knot. She bit back a yawn, it was close to 10 pm and she had been at work since 4:30 this morning. She was working on some candied jewels that were going on a cake the next morning, she really wasn't able to do much in the kitchen anymore; she wasn't allowed to stand for long periods of time anymore. She mostly did small amounts of prep work or decorating the cakes. She finished prepping the candied jewels and took them to the freezer so they would get harder. Ofilia yawned too and eyed Sammy.

"What is the name of this band again?"

"Cute Is What We Aim For, this is my favorite song by them." Sammy started singing out of tune with the song.

_I've got the gift of one liners  
And you've got the curse of curves  
And with this gift I compose words  
And the question that comes forward  
Are you perspiring from the irony  
Or sweating to these lyrics_

Jenna shook her head and started cleaning up so they could close up for the night.

"Who comes up with these band names? I remember when my mom thought that Guns and Roses was an odd band name…now we have Cute Is What We Aim For, Fallout Boy, Shiny Toy Guns. Granted I like all these bands however I now worry about what kind of bands my baby is going to grow up with. God I sound like an old lady." Ofilia, Sammy, Julia and Megan started laughing at her.

"Your mommy instincts are kicking in, you're already worried about your baby's future," said Ofilia.

"Oh that reminds me, I got you something," said Julia running to her locker.

"I told you guys not to get me anything…not until the baby's christening party." Jenna's mom wanted to hold a christening party for the baby; she hadn't been able to for Anya and Jordan so she insisted that this grandchild was getting one. Jenna and Greg decided to do the baptism out of tradition and it was where the baby's god parents would be named, a set from each parent. Jenna had already decided on Ofilia and Jonathan, Greg was still trying to decide who he would have from his side.

Julia was grinning like a dork and handed Jenna a box.

"It will be pointless if you get it _after_ the baby is born, open it." Jenna opened the box and inside was a large black shirt that had pink writing on it. _Mommi 2 Be._ Jenna looked at Julia and shook her head.

"You know you're missing a great career designing tee-shirts. Thank you very much, I love this." Jenna gave her a hug. "I'll have to wear this to Lamaze class next week just to make the other mom's jealous."

"Ok enough sap, I want to clean up and get out of here for the night. I still have to pack for New York, a whole week away from this mad house I think I may cry," said Ofilia and Jenna play smacked her.

"Shut your whore mouth and start cleaning or I'll send Sammy instead."

"No don't send her in my place; I'm looking at finally having sex after not having any for three months. You're just a mean bitch Jenna."

"Have sex for me please, Greg's scared of hurting me and I can't seem to find the energy to put out so yeah have sex for me," said Jenna sweeping the floor.

"I gave up on sex after the issue…god he turned out to be gay and looking for an egg donor, he thought I had good genetics," said Megan with disgust.

"I haven't even had the time for sex since were getting into wedding season," said Sammy sadly. "My husband told me when summer is over; we're going to Reno for a weekend and not leaving the hotel room." All the women in the kitchen started laughing.

"It makes me sad to witness the death of romance, why didn't he just come out and say…I'm gonna bang you all weekend in Reno," said Jenna.

"I gave up on romance forever ago, I send flowers to its tombstone every month," said Sammy. Jenna shook her head and her phone went off, Jenna dug it out of her pocket, it was a text from Greg.

"Here's romance for ya…swamped at lab, can you please bring me a lunch, love greg. Yeah I got a text date…can you feel the love?" Jenna finished sweeping while the other girls got the dishes in the washer and the dough in the freezer. Jenna printed out the daily totals and was going to work on them tomorrow morning.

"See ya in the morning ladies," said Jenna she made sure that everyone was out and she set the alarm and headed out. She stopped by a nearby deli and picked up two turkey and swiss sandwiches along with some pasta salad. She got to the lab in ten minutes and pulled into visitor parking. She grabbed their late dinner and headed into the lab.

"Hey Judy," said Jenna signing in as a visitor. Judy smiled at her and handed her a visitor pass.

"I should have one made up with just your name on it. So how much longer?"

"Till I pop, about seven weeks trust me I even have a little calendar that I cross the days off on. Can you page Greg and tell him I'm here," said Jenna.

"Sure." Judy got on the P.A and paged Greg that he had a visitor in reception. Jenna and Judy chatted a little bit until Greg showed up and he looked surprised to see her there.

"Hey, this is a nice surprise, I thought you would be working till midnight," said Greg giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"We called it in early tonight and besides I can't ignore you when you text me that you're working yourself to death and need food. I missed dinner too, so I'm going to pass out soon if I don't eat."

"I didn't text you," said Greg.

"Sweetie I'm very tired and starving, but I'm not crazy you sent me a text." Jenna pulled out her phone and showed him the text. Greg raised an eyebrow and looked at the text.

"It's my number but I didn't text you."

"So someone took your phone and started sending prank text?" asked Jenna.

"I don't know I was getting ready to go on break anyway. Grissom has me doing Day's backlog of paper work and it's all I can do not to tear my hair out of my head." Greg and Jenna started heading for the break room. "So how was your day?"

"Ok, Ofilia leaves next week for the New York bridal shows. It's going to be a little crazy in the next few weeks; we have over eighty five cake orders in June alone. I'm thinking about hiring a temp or two for June and July, that or shifting some of the girls from Henderson over to this shop for the summer."

"Don't push yourself too hard ok." They really weren't paying attention and when they got to the break room they noticed the door was closed and the lights were off. "That's weird," said Greg and he opened the break room door and flipped on the light switch.

"SURPRISE!!!!" yelled Wendy, Archie, Mandy, Jacqui, Nick, Catherine, Henry, Dave, Hodges, Bobby, and Dr. Robbins. They had decorated the break room with a banner that had little duckies on it, reading 'Yeah it's a baby' and a table in the break room was decorated with a tablecloth that also had little rubber ducks on it and someone had gotten a sheet cake and had it in the center of the table along with a bunch of balloons. Jenna dropped the bag that had there sandwiches in it and jumped, Greg just looked shocked.

"Umm, what's going on?" asked Greg. Hodges rolled his eyes.

"I'm head of the lab party planning committee and I decided that the lab was going to have a baby shower for you, it's very rare that we get to enjoy a person coming into the world. So I had Archie fake a text to Jenna because I figure the person who was doing all the work should be here. Don't worried I cleared everything with Grissom, who cleared it with Ecklie and it is ok us leaving our posts for a while, however this counts as lunch break and our two fifteen minute breaks. So we only have an hour to do this, so I suggest we get started," said Hodges.

"There's a lab party planning committee?" asked Jenna.

"Yes I started it, now please either cut the cake or sit down and start opening gifts," said Hodges.

"You sure Grissom got the ok from Ecklie?" asked Greg. Hodges looked ready to scream.

"Either enjoy your baby shower Sanders or go back to work!" Jenna picked up the sandwiches and threw them away and gave Hodges a hug.

"Thank you very much, this is very nice you. Can we cut the cake first, I missed dinner." Hodges pulled out a cake knife.

"Yes we can have cake first. We also have a sandwich platter…where is the sandwich platter?" asked Hodges. Nick opened the fridge and pulled out the platter."

"I didn't want them to get nasty, chill out Hodges," said Nick.

"I worked very hard planning this damn-it, it's the first party held by the lab party planning committee." Wendy looked at her watch.

"And we have another 55 minutes and 28 seconds to hold this party."

"Ok let's start eating than," said Hodges. Greg sat down next to Jenna and grabbed them both a sandwich.

"So this is very sweet," said Jenna eating taking a bite of the sandwich.

"I think Hodges was inhaling some fumes in his lab today or we're dealing with his good twin," joked Greg. Jenna elbowed him.

"Be nice." Archie sat down next to them.

"Sorry I had to fake you guys out like that, but it was fun and god bless computer texting," said Archie with a smile.

"So how long has Hodges been planning this?" asked Greg. Wendy sat down next to them.

"I caught him looking at baby shower decorations about three weeks ago. He tried to say they were for his little sister's baby shower, expect he doesn't have a baby sister, he has an older brother who lives in Seattle," said Wendy. Jenna started laughing.

"Oh my god, you're joking."

"Nope. I think he's more excited about you guys having a baby than you are. I think he thinks that you guys are going to let him play with your baby. Keep your baby away from Hodges, for its sake it shouldn't be allowed near him," teased Wendy. They all started laughing. Hodges cut the cake and while they were eating the cake Sara came in holding a gift bag.

"Sorry I'm late, got held up. Did I miss the gift opening?"

"Nope that's going to happen in another six minutes so please hurry and finish your cake," said Hodges. Dr. Robbins rolled his eyes.

"Hodges, while I like getting out of the morgue I don't enjoy you timing all the activities, Conrad is gone for the night, the Under sheriff is at a town hall meeting and Grissom has never fired anyone for being late when coming back from break, so let us eat the damn cake in peace." Jenna almost snorted her cake out and Mandy started laughing.

"Wow the morgue monkey knows how to lay down the law." Dave gave her a look.

"Morgue monkey?" Henry shrugged.

"We figure that since we're the lab rats, you guys needed a nickname too, so we came up with morgue monkeys."

"It's not flattering at all," said Dr. Robbins.

"What do you call the people who work in the field?" asked Nick.

"Field hounds," said Jacqui and everyone in the room started laughing. Grissom came in and looked at them.

"I thought you were joking when you asked permission to hold a party Hodges. I didn't clear this with Ecklie," said Grissom. The look on Hodges's face was priceless, it looked like all the color had left his face and he looked ready to run back to his lab and pretend he hadn't been apart of this. "I'm joking, relax. Besides since when have I cared what Conrad thought of me?" He went over to Jenna and Greg and handed them a little box.

"I suggest you open it now or else it might go bad." Jenna looked at the box, a little scared to open it.

"It's not a spider is it?" she asked, she had seen Grissom's office once and it was a scary place.

"No, why would I give a baby a spider?" asked Grissom.

"Why do you do half the things you do?" asked Sara, she meant it to be teasing but Jenna gave Greg a look and he gave her a shrug. He knew that Sara was a little upset about a case involving Lady Heather and that he would have to explain that love triangle to Jenna later on tonight when they were at home.

"Well, open it," prompted Mandy. Jenna took the wrapping paper off and she got a little cage and inside was a cricket along with a bunch of twigs and a little watering dish.

"It's a cricket," said Jenna showing the cage to Greg.

"In most Asian cultures, a cricket is seen has a symbol of good luck. I hope it brings you good luck."

If this was anyone else, Jenna would think this was the freakiest thing ever, however it was Gil Grissom the bug guy and she had a feeling he had put a lot of thought into and she hoped that she could keep Gabriel away from the cage.

"Thank you very much, would it be ok if I put in the room with the baby?" asked Jenna.

"Oh yes, they're very safe pets…just don't let the baby pet it," said Grissom. Jenna smiled.

"I don't see that being an issue for at least another two to three years," said Greg. Wendy handed Greg a note book and pen.

"Here write down what you're getting and from who while Jenna opens up gifts."

"Why does she get to open the gifts," whined Greg.

"Because she's doing all the work, your job stopped after your sperm hit her egg, she is carrying your offspring and gets to suffer all the pain of childbirth, I think her getting to open the gifts is small compensation for what she's enduring right now," said Hodges handing her a gift bag.

"This is from Nick." Jenna opened the gift bag and inside was a thing of baby crib sheets and blankets in white, mint green and a pale yellow.

"Since you don't know what you're having I figured that I would avoid gender orientated colors," said Nick. Archie rolled his eyes.

"Who came up with the idea that yellow and green were gender natural?"

"I just bought what the cute blonde at Target told me to get," said Nick.

"Get her number?" asked Greg.

"She's married," muttered Nick sadly. Hodges handed her another bag.

"This is from Warrick who's interviewing suspects with Brass." Jenna opened it up and inside was a thing of baby monitors.

"Oh these are cool, they're like walkie talkies," said Greg and Jenna just laughed at him.

"And you wonder why I call you a dork. Dork," said Jenna. Catherine handed her a giant stuffed piggy.

"I let Lindsey pick out my gift, you think a fifteen year old would be anti stuffed toy? But no, she went right for the stuffed animals, I think she picked it out for her and hoped I would cave and pick something else out." Jenna grinned.

"Tell her for her sixteenth I'll buy her a giant stuffed piggy," said Jenna. Wendy handed her a bag and an envelope.

"This is from me, Mandy, Archie, Henry, Bobby and Jacqui," said Wendy. Jenna opened it up. It was a diaper bag that was black with a frog on it. When she opened up the bag it had diapers, wipes, baby lotion and baby powder. She opened the envelope and it had a gift card to Babies R Us.

"Oh thank you," Jenna got up and hugged each lab rat. She handed the gift card to Greg. "Guess where we're going next week on your day off."

"You're dragging me to Lamaze, La Leche League and Babies R' Us all next Friday…why don't I just give you my manhood?" asked Greg teasing.

"I'm only going to pick up the paperwork for the La Leche League…and besides your mom gave you that wonderful gift card to Babies R Us as a birthday present a few weeks ago, it would be shame for you to not use it along with this one."

"Greg's mom gave him a gift card to Babies R Us?" asked Nick. Greg rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't my only birthday present from her…she gave me a gift card to Best Buy."

"However it should be noted that the gift card to Babies R Us was much bigger than the Best Buy gift Card," said Jenna.

"My mom went overboard too when Lindsey was first born. My mom spent over five hundred dollars on clothing and bedding for Lindsey and we only got to use most of the stuff for about six months and than she out grew it all," said Catherine.

"My mom moved in with my oldest sister for about two months when the first Stokes grandbaby was born, so be grateful that you're not about to start living with your parents again G," said Nick.

"Oh if she had it her way she would be living with us right now, so don't jinx me man," said Greg. Dave handed her an envelope from him and his wife Stacy, inside was another gift card to Babies R Us.

"You're also going to help me move the office around next Friday so we can set up the baby's room," said Jenna grinning.

"So you're taking my manhood and making me slave labor. I can really feel the love," said Greg.

"I hope you're not expecting him to put anything together, I've seen him try to work on a car and it was pathetic," said Archie.

"I have skills in that area, I was seventeen and me and Ofilia had to put together a baby crib that we got a yard sale and it was missing like six screws. I think we just ended up nailing the whole thing together, that was after we thought about having a bon fire with the damn thing," said Jenna and everyone started laughing.

Dr. Robbins handed them a baggie with little bath toys and he handed them a box from Judy that had a bunch of bibs that she hand embroidered with ducks.

"I caught Judy doing them while on the clock, that gave me the inspiration for the ducks," said Hodges grinning.

"I think that Judy's job gets really boring and I don't blame her for sewing, in fact I told her she could if things were really slow" said Grissom. "Don't pick on her again Hodges."

"Yes sir," said Hodges he handed Jenna his gift bag; she peeked into it and grinned.

"I don't think we'll be able to use this for quite awhile," said Jenna.

"What is it?" asked Greg taking the bag from her.

"People never buy stuff the baby can use when it gets older, I was thinking ahead," said Hodges. Greg opened the bag and almost started laughing; he pulled out a Three's Company Board Game. "I had to bid very aggressively on EBay for that, its for ages seven and up and it's a good way to introduce your baby to good television shows of the late seventies and early eighties," said Hodges.

"I was more of a Little house on the Prairie/ Full House girl myself during the early eighties," said Jenna.

"I was into Mash and the A Team," said Greg.

"Oh your poor baby, thank god I got something that will introduce to good American television," said Hodges. Jenna started giggling and Sara just shook her head.

"Is there such a thing as good American television?" asked Sara.

"The X-Files," said Jenna and Greg together and Hodges sighed.

"At least there is a small ray of hope for your offspring." Sara handed Greg and Jenna her bag.

"It's something the two of you can use for the baby," said Sara. Jenna opened it and grinned.

"I really wanted one of these," said Jenna.

"What is it?" asked Greg looking at confused.

"It's a Snugli, you put the baby in it and than you can wear it and hold the baby hands free. My mom had one for me and it made working so much easier. Thank you so much Sara, it will make things easier when I go back to work after maternity leave." Greg gave here a look.

"You're gonna take the baby to work with you?"

"Yeah, my mom did with me and Frankie, unless you want to carry the baby around crime scenes in the Snugli," teased Jenna.

"That would go really well at strip clubs wouldn't it Greg?" asked Henry.

"What strip club?" asked Jenna giving Greg a mock glare.

"I had to interview a striper about a homicide, Warrick was with me and I didn't pay to look at her, it was right there and….I should just shut up before I dig my grave any deeper," said Greg.

"Good boy you learn fast unlike other people," said Sara and Greg and Jenna noticed that Grissom appeared a little annoyed.

"Well I think that wraps up everything. Jenna I hate to be rude, but I'm going to have to ask you to head out so the team can get back to work. Guys…back to work, Sara can I see in my office?" asked Grissom.

"Sure," said Sara leaving the break room.

"Can you help me carry all this stuff out?" asked Jenna picking up two of the gift bags. Greg picked up some of the other bags while Jenna said goodbye and thanks to the lab rats. She and Greg started walking out and Greg promised Judy he would bring her a piece of cake from the break room when he got back inside. Jenna got the trunk popped and they started putting stuff inside, she sat the cricket in the backseat.

"Do you think you'll be able to get this stuff inside the apartment by yourself?" asked Greg.

"It might take a couple of trips, but I think I can do it. So what's with the hidden bitchyness between Grissom and Sara?" asked Jenna, Greg shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"An old fling of Grissom's was involved with a murder investigation and Grissom was her alibi…needless to say Sara is a bit pissed."

"Grissom had flings? My world is all askew now."

"If I told you she used to be a dominatrix and a fetish club owner what would you say?" asked Greg and Jenna's eyes got wide.

"You're shitting me, cricket guy and a dominatrix. It takes all kinds, at least that's what my grandma Sophia said. Well, I'm gonna go home, get the smell of sugar off me and go to bed." Jenna gave him a hug. "I love you, I really don't get why people let former relationships mess them up? It's the past, he loves Sara…it's a different type of relationship to say the lest but he does care about her." Greg hugged her back.

"They'll work it out, granted they're both a little socially awkward but they'll work it out. I'll probably be home later on tonight, it's slow and it's just paper work. So we get to shopping next week?" asked Greg.

"Yep, other than the clothes and what's in the car, the baby supplies are kind of lacking. I saw a really cute crib on sale and guess who's going to help me put it together," teased Jenna and Greg grinned.

"You're so cute when you're naïve," said Greg. Jenna gave him one last hug and got in the car. Greg watched her drive away and headed back inside, he made a trip to the break room and got Judy her cake than looped around to Grissom's office. The door was shut and the blinds were drawn, Greg knocked on the door. Sara opened it and sighed.

"He's free, I was just getting ready to head out," she walked past him and Greg started to follow her.

"Well I kind of wanted to talk to both of you," said Greg. Sara rolled her eyes.

"Tell me you're not going to try to play Dr. Phil for me right now, I'm not in the mood."

"No, I'm not going to play Dr. Phil right now. I wanted to ask the two of you for a favor." Sara groaned.

"No you can't take the cricket back, it was specially shipped." Sara got to the garage and Greg grabbed her arm.

"Look, it's not about the cricket…I wanted to ask you and Grissom how you guys would feel about being godparents for the baby?" Sara gave him a look.

"I don't believe in god, isn't that one of the prerequisites for being a god parent?" asked Sara.

"I know that you don't believe in God and believing in god isn't one of the god parent rules," said Greg. "However a god parent is someone who takes a vested interest in the upbringing and personal development of the child. And considering that you and Grissom had a vested interest in me and seeing me pass my field test and leaving the lab I think you guys would be a good influence for the baby." Sara gave him a look.

"Have you met me and Grissom?"

"Yeah."

"And you want us to be an influence in the upbringing of your baby?"

"Yeah, you guys influenced me and look how I turned out." Sara shook her head and opened the door to one of the SUV's

"We'll see," She got in the car and drove off. Greg headed back upstairs, he had been thinking about asking Grissom and Sara to be his chosen set of godparents for awhile now, they had both played a real part in helping him make the change from being a lab tech to a CSI and he knew that despite their social awkwardness they would care about the baby and be their for it like they had been for him.

Greg sat back down with the paperwork and worked on it until about three am when he finished it. He yawned, he was almost over clocked on overtime again and went to find Grissom to see if he could go home an hour early. He found Grissom sitting in his office filling out the paperwork for timecards.

"Day's is caught up so they owe us big time, would it be alright if I headed out?" asked Greg.

"Of course," Greg turned around to leave. "And Greg."

"Yeah boss." He stopped and stood in the doorway.

"Sara told me about the favor you asked her, are you sure that's what you want? I'm sure that someone else would be better suited to the position." Greg almost laughed, Grissom looked really uncomfortable and it was the first time he could recall the older man being so uncomfortable.

"With all due respect, I can't think of anyone else who is better suited for the position." Grissom nodded.

"Than we would be honored to take it."

"Thanks," said Greg and he turned to leave again when Grissom called out to him.

"No thank you Greg." Greg shrugged and left the lab.

Notes-The song is from Cute Is What We Aim For: Curse of Curves

The episode referenced was: The Good, The Bad and the Dominatrix

And Crickets do mean good luck in Asian cultures and I can see Grissom buying one for someone as a gift.


	23. Is this a bad time

Is this a bad time?

May 2007

So far they had managed to cross off three of the Dell children: one of the children was married and living in Texas while all the murders were going on, another had died last year in a car accident and the third seemed to be yet another victim of the miniature killer. Trevor Dell was found about three hours ago dead in his own apartment. Greg was helping Sara look through the evidence photos of the crime scene.

"So you found a miniature doll, but no miniature…breaking trend or a copy cat?" asked Greg. Sara shook her head.

"I don't think the killer meant to kill him, the bleach may have triggered something and the killer snapped and killed him in a rage," said Sara, she flipped through some photos. "The apartment was very cold, even for Las Vegas in late May. I think the killer may be making the miniature right now to correct the error."

"OCD taken to a whole new level," said Greg looking at the photos. "This one was really up close and personal, the only other time that happened was with Izzy Delancy, but that was planned…you could be right about the bleach triggering a rage, but all the other scenes had bleach and the killer made sure that everything was staged to fit the miniature, the killer even took one back when it didn't fit."

"Well Trevor was a Dell foster child, maybe this was a really personal thing," suggested Sara.

"He could have been an abusive figure in the past," said Greg. "But then why leave a mini doll and not a whole miniature?" Sara sighed.

"I don't know this one feels different than the other killings." Grissom came into the layout room with a report in hand.

"It is different; our killer got sloppy this time and left behind a fingerprint on our little doll."

"You're kidding," said Greg.

"Any hits in AFIS?" asked Sara.

"No, that could mean we're dealing with someone who doesn't have a record, Wendy is trying to get some DNA off the print, hopeful it can help us eliminate some of the Dell foster kids. I also got a finally autopsy report from Dr. Robbins, Trevor died of accidental electrocution. The 'beating' we saw in the bathroom was Trevor having a seizure from being electrocuted. However, we have another clue to go on, the bracelet on the doll had to custom made, I'm going to go and see which hobby shops in town do this kind of work." Grissom left the room and Sara and Greg exchanged a look.

"Nine months and we may finally get somewhere with this case. About damn time," said Sara taking a sip of her coffee.

"They get sloppy soon or later. I hope Wendy is able to get something off that print, I mean the Dell's had dozen of foster kids, it would be nice to narrow it down to a gender or something," said Greg with a yawn.

"The case getting boring Greggo?" asked Sara with a grin.

"Nah, Jenna came home for dinner tonight before I started shift and she had me start moving the office around so we would have somewhere to start putting baby stuff." They started walking to the break room for coffee refills. "We're gonna start house hunting later on next month so hopefully we'll have a house and not have to renew the lease on the apartment. It was nice when it was just me and Jen, but I would like somewhere with a little more room if we're going to have midgets running around." Greg started pouring himself some coffee and Sara got some cookies from the vending machine.

"You said midgets," said Sara sitting down, Greg sat down across from her.

"Yeah."

"That would imply that you plan on having more than one 'midget'. Oh god you guys aren't having twins?" asked Sara with mock horror.

"No…but maybe…someday in the future I would…maybe like more kids," said Greg taking a long drag from his coffee and Sara started laughing.

"I never thought I would see the day that Greg Sanders would admit to wanting kids. Mr. I-hide-my-porn-in-the-lab, Mr. I like latex and supermodels and fast cars. I never thought you would be willing to give up latex for diapers and fast cars for a mini vans." Greg shrugged. "Than again you're a big kid yourself so I imagine that for you a kid wouldn't be that much of a change."

"I just thought I wouldn't really meet someone I would want to have kids with and yeah I like kids, they're fun and I look forward to teaching it and watching it grow up…and yeah I'm a dork." Sara grinned.

"You're a cute dork though. You're gonna be a good dad Greg." He smiled.

"Thanks."

"Well I'm gonna prod Grissom to see if he found anything yet. See ya later." Greg was finishing his coffee when Dave walked in and sat down across from Greg.

"Ummm….can I ask you a question?" asked Dave.

"Sure," said Greg. Dave seemed a little nervous and he looked around the room to make sure they were the only ones there.

"Me and Stacy, well we're thinking about having kids, well to be honest we're kind of trying to get pregnant right now."

"That's nice," said Greg wondering where this was going.

"Well…this sounds kind of silly, but did you and Jenna, did you two _try_ anything to get to pregnant?" Greg almost started laughing.

"We had sex."

"I know that…but did you two do anything special. I mean me and Stacy have been trying for months and it doesn't seem to be working and the doctors told us that we're both fine, but we're not getting the desired result, so how did it happen for you and Jenna?"

"We weren't trying and it happened. We didn't plan for it to happen and it happened…so stop trying, just have old fashion sex and see what happens." Greg went to leave the break room and Hodges was walking in and Greg couldn't resist. "David…I was on top and than we moved to our sides, try that." Hodges rolled his eyes and Greg went to see if Wendy had DNA back yet.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna reached over to her nightstand and grabbed her cell phone.

"Hello," she answered half asleep, it was close to midnight and she had gone home early to balance the books for May and set a budget for June. She finished about fifteen minutes ago and went to bed.

"Sweetie I'm sorry to wake you up," said Clarissa.

"It's ok mommy, what's up?" asked Jenna.

"I just got a call from Frankie; Karen fell down the stairs and broke her leg. He has to leave town tomorrow with some of his students for their senior trip and her mother is out of town. She's going to need help with Anya and Jordan for a few days so I'm leaving tonight. I'll only be gone for a week and than Frankie will be home. Henderson is properly staffed so if you need anything from there just call and let them know. You'll be alright?" asked her mother.

"Yeah mommy I'll be fine. Tell Karen and the babies I love them. I love you."

"I love you too miele, go back to sleep." Clarissa hung up her end and Jenna noticed she had a missed text. It was from Ofilia.

_Hey, plane landed. Going to the show tomorrow, love ya. _Jenna closed the phone and put it on the bedside table and laid back down. She flipped the pillow over and tried to settle back into the bed. Jenna felt the baby push down and start to fidget again; she grinned and started to rub the bump.

"Mommy is very sleepy, what do you want?" She felt it kick and start to twist again. "I don't wanna play with you right now." She felt it give a harder kick and she smiled. "You're not even born yet and you're already not listening to me. You want a bedtime song miele." The baby pushed down again. "I'll take that has a yes."

_Give a little bit  
Give a little bit of your love to me  
Give a little bit  
I'll give a little bit of my love to you  
See the man with the lonely eyes  
Take his hand, you'll be surprised_

So I'll give a little bit  
I'll give a little bit of my life for you  
So give a little bit  
Give a little bit of your time to me  
Now's the time that we need to share  
So send a smile, we're on our way back home  
ooh yea yea  
We gotta feel it  
Yea yea yea yea...  
Ooo  
Don't you need to feel at home  
Ooo you gotta feel it  
Yea you gotta want to  
Oh you gotta sing, we've come along way tonight.

The kicking and twisting settled, Jenna sighed she was wide awake now and she decided to get up and make herself a cup of tea. Gabriel woke up from his corner of the bed and gave her a look that clearly said, "You crazy human why are you up at this ungodly hour." Jenna ruffled the cat's head.

"I love you fuzzy ball, you wanna keep me company?" The cat eyed her with a look that said, "I don't have a choice now do I?" The cat jumped off the bed and followed her into the kitchen and Jenna got a pot boiling and she tossed the cat some kitty treats.

"Don't say I never gave you anything." The pot boiled and Jenna poured it into a mug and added a peppermint teabag. She let it soak for a few minutes, threw the teabag away and headed into the office/nursery. She grinned; she and Greg had been moving stuff around for a few days now and so far both bookshelves had been moved to out to the living room, but the desk with the PC was still in the room next to a changing table that she and Sammy had found at a yard sale last weekend. Her and Sammy had cleaned it and Jenna had washed all the clothes, sheets and blankets she had been given and they were all folded and put away neatly. The cricket Grissom had given them was place on a shelf in the room, so far Gabriel had left it alone, it wasn't chirping right now but it was moving around his cage.

She and Greg were planning on getting a crib and a car seat this Friday on his day off. She sat down at the desk and started finishing up the Thank You notes for the lab rats and everyone else who took part in the baby shower at the lab. She finished up her notes to Hodges, Judy and Sara when she started to feel sleepy again. She looked at the clock, it was two am, and she would have to get up in two hours to get ready for work. She clicked off the light in the office and went back to bed. She laid back down and dozed off for about an hour when the kick and twisting started up again. She yawned and started rubbing the bump and she sang to the baby until they both dozed off.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg hated pulling doubles and he narrowly avoided having to pull a triple and he owed Nick a lot for agreeing to cover for him. It was late Thursday morning and he had been allowed to a few hours to go home, get a mini nap and a meal before reporting back to work. They had a break in the miniature killer case and it was shock to everyone. The killer was female; a female serial killer was rare and according to Grissom a female serial killer with delusional psychosis was even rarer. He had been given the task of tracing all the female fosters; he had it narrowed down to about twenty kids before his eyes started to burn and he almost passed out on a stack of files.

He unlocked the apartment door and shut it behind him. He noticed that Jenna's purse was sitting on the table by the door, but he didn't hear her. He looked in the kitchen, no Jenna. He looked in the office, no Jenna. He walked into the bedroom and shook his head; Jenna had fallen asleep on the bed. She was still had her shoes on and her hair was still in a bun from work. Greg slipped off his shoes and crawled in next to her.

"Mmm, you smell like white out and dust," she muttered her eyes still closed.

"I could smell like decomposing body, why are you home so early?" asked Greg.

"I didn't sleep very good last night…I was falling asleep in my office working on designs. Megan and Sammy told me to go home, my employees told me to go home or fire myself for sleeping on the job. Baby's kicking again, you sing it to sleep, I did last night and now it's your turn." Jenna drifted off to sleep again and Greg set the alarm on his bedside and put his arms around her.

"You're very beautiful you know that?" He heard her mutter something and than she started snoring. He grinned and he felt the baby give another solid kick and Jenna gave a little moan.

"Make it go to sleep," she rolled over to face him and buried her face in his chest. "I'm tired and it won't let me sleep."

"Shush, alright just relax." Greg took off her shoes and unclipped her hair and laid back down next to her and started rubbing the bump and he started singing quietly.

_I seem to recognize your face  
haunting, familiar, yet I can't seem to place it  
cannot find the candle of thought to light your name  
lifetimes are catching up with me  
all these changes taking place, I wish I'd seen the place  
but no one's ever taken me  
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
_

_I swear I recognize your breath  
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising  
me, you wouldn't recall, for I'm not my former  
it's hard when, you're stuck upon the shelf  
I changed by not changing at all, small town predicts my fate  
perhaps that's what no one wants to see  
_

_I just want to scream...hello...  
my god its been so long, never dreamed you'd return  
but now here you are, and here I am  
hearts and thoughts they fade...away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade...away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away...  
hearts and thoughts they fade..._

Jenna was sound asleep and the kicking had mellowed out, Greg guessed that meant the baby was asleep again. _Poor Jen I thought working doubles was rough._ He took a deep breath, she hadn't been in the kitchen yet she still smelled like sugar and vanilla. He dozed off breathing the scent in.

He woke up a few hours later to the sound of the alarm and the smell of grilled cheese and soup. He stumbled out to the living room; Jenna was curled up on the sofa eating the soup and sandwich while watching House.

"Hey, isn't this the episode where House treats the nun?" asked Greg heading into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I was always thankful that I never had to go to Catholic school. The nuns at church were scary enough." Greg got himself a bowl of soup and got a sandwich that was still warm from the microwave and sat down next to her. He still had another hour before he had to go in.

"I was feeling lazy and wasn't really in the mood to cook anything; I'm going to head back into work after you leave." Greg frowned.

"You sure you feel up to it?"

"Yeah I just really needed a nap. I feel a lot better now, the kicking has slowed down too so hopefully I'll be allowed to sleep tonight. You want me to drive you in to work and I'll just pick up tomorrow morning," suggested Jenna.

"Sure," said Greg finishing up the soup and moving to the sandwich.

"So how was your shift?" asked Jenna.

"Busy," Greg filled her in on what happened with the miniature killer.

"Wow, so what's the next step?" asked Jenna.

"Grissom was going to check the local hobby stores and see who asked for the little metal bracelet and that was the last thing I heard. I'm gonna take a shower so I don't smell like white out and dust, can you make me a lunch?" asked Greg.

"Sure," Jenna headed into the kitchen and Greg hopped in the shower. He finished his shower and got dressed. He came back out to the living room and Jenna had put her hair up and had her shoes on. She was on her cell phone talking with someone.

"Yeah I took a nap; had some soup and I feel much better now. I just want to work in the office and try to finish some of those designs, besides I'm taking tomorrow off. Yes mom I'll be good, do you want to talk to Greg?" She handed the phone to Greg.

"It's Megan, she being annoying." Greg took the phone.

"I caught her drooling on her keyboard, did she take a nap?"

"Yeah and I just watched her eat a bowl of soup and she seems ok…if she's not she's going to see Dr. Minhi isn't she?" asked Greg.

"Yes if I don't feel good I'll go see Dr. Minhi. But I'm fine, I just needed a nap," said Jenna rolling her eyes.

"She sounds fine, I promise that we haven't been over working her," said Megan.

"I trust you guys, she'll be in later if she gives you any shit send her home," said Greg.

"Will do love." Megan hung up and Greg handed her back her cell phone. Jenna just shook her head.

"It's almost six o'clock you ready to head in?" asked Jenna. Greg grabbed his lunch box and opened the door for her.

"After you sweetheart." Jenna grabbed her purse and headed out and he shut and locked the door behind her. He got in the passenger seat of her car and he leaned over and opened her door. She sighed and got in the car and started driving, Greg fiddled with her CD player and stopped when he heard a song he couldn't remember hearing before, it had a country twang to it, but also a little melancholy.

_Childhood living is easy to do  
The things you wanted I bought them for you  
Graceless lady, you know who I am,  
You know I can't let you slide through my hands_

Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
Couldn't drag me away... 

"Julia introducing you to indie bands again?" asked Greg.

"It's not a bad song, little sappy," said Jenna.

_I have my freedom but I don't have much time  
Faith has been broken tears must be cried,  
Let's do some living after we die_

Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
We'll ride them someday

Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away,  
Wild, wild horses,  
We'll ride them someday

"It's very EMO sounding," said Greg.

"Kiss my ass and let me enjoy my EMO music," said Jenna. They drove the rest of the way to the lab in silence. Greg leaned over and gave her a kiss when they got to the lab.

"I love you," said Greg.

"I love you too. See you around seven?" asked Jenna.

"Yep," said Greg getting out of the car.

"Have a fun night," said Jenna, Greg shut the car door and watched her drive off before heading into the lab.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Wow I go home for a few hours and you almost have the case cracked without me," said Greg.

He had been there for about an hour and Nick was filling him in on what happened. It turned out that the bracelet had been bought by someone named Natalie; the first name was enough to get the foster records released. So far they had found out that after her mother died when Natalie was six she had pushed her four year old sister out of a tree house and killed her. After her little sister's death her father gave her up to foster care and from there Natalie seemed to vanish off the face of the earth.

"Grissom is calling everyone for a meeting and we're gonna go from there," said Nick.

"Wow you think we finally wrap this case up?" asked Greg.

"I hope so man; this chick has been jerking our chain for almost nine months now," said Nick.

"You have to admit…she was good. Someone is going to have a field day making a case study of this chick," said Greg.

"Yeah I can see a whole textbook chapter about this crazy chick," said Nick. Catherine burst into the break room looking really upset.

"Grissom wants us in layout room two now!"

"What's going on?" asked Nick.

"Another miniature was found in Grissom's office…she may have Sara,"

"Whoa back up, what. How did she get into the lab and what about Sara?" asked Greg.

"Would both of you start moving to the layout room and I'll tell you on the way!" snapped Catherine. Nick and Greg started following her, she didn't know much. All she did know was that she and Grissom had come back from talking with Natalie's father and he had gone to his office and found the miniature and the doll found with the miniature was Sara, right down to her stab vest. He had called Brass and he was en-route to where Sara had told Warrick she was going for dinner. Grissom was questioning Judy about who had been in his office.

They got into the layout room and Greg looked at the miniature, it was a random stretch of desert landscape, a wrecked car was dead center and a little hand moved back and forth in a clawing motion.

_Oh god,_ thought Greg. _The miniatures were always exact every detail perfect…if this doll is still moving._

"If the doll is still alive, that means Sara's still alive," said Greg. Nick looked annoyed and worried.

"Generic stretch of desert…she could be anywhere in a four-state radius." _Thanks for keeping the hope alive good buddy. _Catherine sighed and looked at the miniature again.

"Let's just focus on the details. There's always something to go on." Warrick spoke up after looking at the miniature.  
"She has to make these in advance, right? But how do you plan a car wreck? There's no way to know how the car's going to land." Warrick paused and a light went off in his head. "Unless you wreck the car first, and then put her under it." Nick took a magnifying glass and studied the car in closer detail.

"Hey I got a vin number," said Nick. _Always perfect, right down to the last detail._

"Give me the first six," said Greg turning towards a laptop that could search the BMV and hopefully give them something.

"King, Sam, Victor 4, 5, 3," said Nick. Greg plugged it in and hit enter and prayed for search results. Grissom stormed into the layout room.

"Her name is Natalie Davis and she works for our janitorial service." Catherine looked horrified and to be honest Greg was too.

_How often have you walked passed one of the cleaning crew and not given them a second thought…maybe this is like that time with Nick, just a random CSI._

"Here! In the lab," said Catherine taking the file from Grissom. Greg looked at the ID photo; she looked like a harmless cat lady type. _A cat lady who's kill five people and could have a sixth on the way._

"For over a month. She's never been arrested, so there's nothing to flag on a security check. She used Ernie Dell's address on her work form. She has no home phone and no driver's license." _That explains the disposable cell._ The computer chimed that the search was done and it had one result.

"Ok I have something, 2007 red Mustang. Totaled outside the Trip Wire Bar about six weeks ago. Driver fatality and the car went to scrap, lead CSI on the case Sara Sidle." _Could there have been bleach somewhere at the scene and she saw Sara and flipped out…this doesn't make sense at all._

"Pull up the crime scene photos," ordered Grissom. Greg brought them up and clicked on the first one he saw and his jaw dropped. She was at the scene watching them; if he hadn't been paying attention he wouldn't have noticed her at all. _She blended right it, god could she have been watching us at all the scenes?_

"She was at the crime scene," muttered Grissom to himself and Nick she looked confused.

"So she salvages the car, and somehow gets it out to the desert, and grabs Sara, and puts her under it?" _Yeah I'm gonna with that._ Grissom looked horrified and Warrick started talking, give voice to Greg's earlier thought.  
"I don't get it. What does Sara have to do with bleach?" _Damned if I know. _Catherine looked near tears and shook her head.  
"I don't know. This just feels different." Grissom spoke up and his voice sounded dead.  
"It is different_._" Greg looked at him and he seemed to be reliving some horrible memory in his head. "This girl holds me responsible for the death of Ernie Dell. I took away the only person she ever loved…so she's gonna do the same thing to me." _Holy shit…did he just admit what he and Sara have out loud?_ Catherine looked at Grissom first and her eyes got wide and she gave Grissom a look like she was seeing him for the first time, Warrick seemed frozen in place and he stared stone face at Grissom. Greg gave Nick a look and the Texan seemed to be slowly taking in what Grissom was saying.

"This isn't about a psychotic reaction to bleach, or some dead sister or the doll…" Grissom stopped talking and thought for a moment. "Her little bisque doll…" he stormed out the break room leaving the team reeling. Catherine seemed to snap out of it first.

"We'll all talk about this later; our main concern is trying to find Sara. Greg you're with me, we're going to head over to the strip mall and get the video tapes of the parking garage. Nick, Warrick find out what the hell Grissom was going on about and try to find out where the hell that crazy bitch is," snapped Catherine leaving the room and Greg had to run full tilt after her.

_Grissom admitted it out loud…oh my god…I don't know how the hell he can stay calm, if this was Jen I would be a freaking train wreck right now._ Catherine got into one of the SUVs and Greg got in next to her. Catherine flipped on the sirens and started speeding.

"All these years…Gil…freaking moron, lectures me about dating and relationships and he's been breaking the one major rule in the lab and look what happened? God and Sara…what the hell was she thinking? Somehow I'm not surprised…god what am I saying?" asked Catherine. If the situation wasn't so serious Catherine's mini rant would be funny, but right now he just wanted to find Sara. She was his friend, next to Jenna and Archie she was his best friend. _You guys found Nick with less to go on, you'll find Sara._

"We'll bust out the gossip cookies after we find Sara," said Greg. Catherine wiped her eyes and parked the car.

"You're right, let's just focus on figuring out what happened," Catherine got out the car and Greg followed her, it had started to rain and he hoped that any trace evidence they found was still useable.

"Figure out how many camera each floor has and which one had the best view of Sara's car," said Catherine walking over to Brass to get an update from him and to give him what she knew. Greg walked over to a kid in late teens that had an employee name tag on.

"I'm Greg Sanders with the Crime Lab, do you work here?" The kid nodded.

"Yeah I work security, it's mostly just manning the entrances to the mall and garage," said the kid.

"Can you give me any info about many camera each floor has?" asked Greg.

"Sure, we have two on each floor, on north facing and one south facing. I think the south facing one would have the best view of the car," said the kid.

"Where is the camera exactly?" asked Greg. The kid motioned for Greg to follow and he lead him to a corner of the parking garage not even two feet from where Sara's car was. "Hey Catherine!" She turned from Brass and headed over to Greg.

"What did you find?" asked Catherine.

"There are two cameras on each floor," he moved his flashlight up and shined it on the camera. "This one would have the best view of Sara's car." Catherine looked relieved for a moment.

"Great, now if only we could see what it saw. Where the hell are the damn tapes?" asked Catherine snapping at the kid and he sighed.

"Like I've been telling everyone all night this is strip mall not a casino. The feeds all go off sight, my boss is bring them as fast as he can." Catherine pulled out a picture of Natalie.

"Do you recognize this woman?"

"No." Normally Greg would feel annoyed when witnesses didn't recognize who the prep was, but than again none of them had noticed her and she had been hiding right under their noses. Catherine flipped to a photo of Sara.

"What about her?"

"Yeah, she eats at the veggie place downstairs a couple times a week." Catherine looked like she wanted the kiss the kid.

"When was she here tonight?" The kid shrugged.

"Around seven thirty, I think, that's when she normally pops in." _Thank you, you have no idea how unbelievable helpful that is._

"That gives us a time frame; I'll take care of the tapes." Greg walked off to find the kid's boss and get the tapes. A few minutes later an older guy came in with a bag of tapes.

"This is everything up to around eight this evening," said the guy.

"I just need the tapes from around five pm till about eight this evening," said Greg, knowing the timeline would cut down on time spent looking through hours of useless footage and get them closer to finding Sara. The guy handed him four tapes.

"I hope you find your girl," said the kid.

_Me too…me too._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"God it's really going out there," said Julia looking through the front store window at the storm. They were closing up for the night and cleaning the front of the house.

"This is nothing, now it the power goes out and the stoves won't work in the morning, than I'll be worried," said Jenna wiping down a table. She sighed and looked at the bump. "I don't know what you're issue is lately, but really all the non stop kicking is getting old."

"Maybe it's just making sure you remember it's there?" suggested Megan coming out to the front to get a broom. Jenna looked down at the bump and back at Megan.

"Kind of hard to forget it's there," said Jenna. God she was tired, she had taken a four hour nap today and it felt like she hadn't slept at all. She yawned and finished wiping down the counters. "Are you guys set for tomorrow? I can come in later in the afternoon if needed?"

"I think you're the first boss I've ever worked with to feel bad about taking time off. Go enjoy you're day off…shop for your midget, learn how to breath…you'll forget all about it when the time comes and you'll be screaming for your meds to dull the pain," joked Sammy coming up front.

"We agreed to have the baby the old fashioned way, no drugs, no painkillers. I get to hold his hand and scream about how much I hate him and how much I would love to kill him," said Jenna, all three just looked at her.

"Oh we thought you were crazy, now we know you're crazy. No drugs, none at all," said Julia.

"It's not good for baby, plus I would like to remember holding my baby and bring it in to the world. Ofilia has no memory of giving birth to Millia or cursing me, god, the doctor and the asshole that got her there," said Jenna.

"My kind of delivery," said Sammy.

"If the back is done, we can all go home," said Jenna. Sammy and Megan ran to the back and started cleaning. Julia looked at her.

"Aren't you scared?" asked Julia.

"Scared of what?" asked Jenna.

"I don't know, being a mom, I mean you're a great boss so I think the stretch from boss to mom should be that much, but still aren't you freaking out."

"To be honest, I'm terrified…I can't wait to have the baby and do all the mommy stuff with him or her, but yeah I'm still a little freaked out that another human is going to be needing me for the next twenty some years of it's life. But, my mom did ok with me, Ofilia did a hell of a job with Millia and I think I'll be fine." Jenna went to wipe down another table when she started to feel dizzy; she shook her head and gripped the table.

"Hey you ok?" asked Julia.

"Yeah…I'm just tried." She stood up and headed into the back with her rag that she tossed into the sink. "Hey, Megan I'm kind of tried, can you lock up tonight?" Megan looked at her.

"You look like hell," said Megan frowning at her.

"I just need ten, twenty maybe thirty hours of sleep." Sammy looked worried now.

"You sure you'll be ok to drive home? I can stay with you tonight if you want. I'll tell Cole to watch the kids." Jenna grabbed her purse and shook her head.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'll see you guys later." Jenna gave them a little wave and head out front. "Night Julia."

"Night mama," said Julia looking at her worried. Jenna waddled to the car and got in. She started the car and took a deep breath and placed both hands on the bump.

"Sweetheart please ease up on me. All the kicking really hurts and it's wearing me out." Jenna put the car into the drive and headed home, god this weather was shitty. She debated calling Greg and seeing if he could come home, she felt horrible and just overwhelmed.

_It's nothing; you're just tired you'll feel better after a hot shower and a nap._ Jenna parked the car and got soaked trying to get across the parking lot to the building. She got inside and got undressed in the kitchen and tossed her wet clothes in the mini washer room they had next to the kitchen. She took the hottest shower she could stand and just crawled into bed. She curled up and started rubbing the bump hoping to get the baby to go to sleep.

_I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain  
Now you decided to show me the same  
No sweeping exits or offstage lines,  
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind_

Wild Horses,  
Couldn't drag me away, Wild, wild horses,  
Couldn't drag me away... She dozed off to sleep in a matter of minutes.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Ok here's the plan," said Ecklie. "At dawn we're going to be doing helicopter sweeps of the area in the west desert. CSI Sanders will be in the lead helicopter and Officer Trex will be in copter two. Squad cars and a recuse unit will be on the ground and a medi vac will be on call not ten minutes from our location. And questions?" asked Ecklie.

"What about search dogs?" asked Tate, she had been pulled in from Days to help them out.

"With all the rain, scent would be almost gone, plus with all the heat the dogs could kill themselves trying to her. K9 won't let us risk the dogs and while this may sound retarded to us, those dogs are their teammates and I don't blame them not wanting to risk a teammate. We're going to do this on foot and in the air, the old fashioned way. Dawn hits in a less than an hour people, we're going to ask that you switch from your cell to one of these walkie talkies, better to use in the desert, they don't need a cell tower. Get ready to head out."

Ecklie dismissed them and Greg went to his locker to get ready, the last couple of hours had passed in a blur. They had figured out that Sara had been taken out to the western desert somewhere, but with all the rain last night, if she had managed to get out from under the car, she had been out there all night not to mention what was out in the desert.

_God exposure alone, it was freezing last night and it's getting close to eighty degrees right now…shut up and focus, Sara was always stubborn and never knew when to give up,_ thought Greg throwing his cell in the locker. Tate came up to him.

"Here, thought you might want this," Tate handed him an evidence bag with a necklace in it. Greg gave a look, it was Jenna's jade necklace they had taken months ago when she was attacked in the bakery. "Guy is going to jail, he confessed…thought you might want her lucky charm," said Tate grabbing her vest and sunglasses before heading out. Greg took it out of the baggie and put it in his pocket, Jenna always told him it was good luck, well most of the time she teased. _Let it come in handy now._ He left the locker room to head up to the roof top and didn't hear his cell phone go off in the locker.

"Sanders, over here," yelled a man over the noise of the chopper. Greg ducked down under the blades and made his way to the chopper. He was fitted a mike and headphones so he could speak with the pilot and the units in the cars below.

"You ready?" asked the guy.

"Yeah, let's go!" Greg got into the chopper and they took off from the roof. He looked down and saw someone on the roof jumping up and down waving their arms.

_Who the hell is that…someone wishing us luck? Yeah we're going to need it._ Soon he couldn't see the building and was twisting Jenna's necklace in his hands. _God let Sara be alright. _

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"GREG!!!! GREG!!!!! GET YOUR DUMB ASS BACK DOWN HERE!!!!" screamed Wendy from the rooftop. The chopper was long gone though; Wendy kicked some gravel on the roof and took off back down the stairs. _This is not good, really not good…god damn it!!!_ _She was fine and than all of a sudden she just doubles over._ Wendy started running back towards the main entrance of the lab and a crowd was starting to gather of the techs who were getting ready to start their shift and those who were about to leave.

"Get out of the way and give the poor girl some air," snapped Wendy pushing a few day techs out of the way. "We just missed him," she reached out and took Jenna's hand. Jenna sucked in a breath and muttered something foul.

"It hurts." She started to mutter again. "Six weeks you have six weeks and you pick now to wanna be born!" Hodges was holding her other hand and he looked over at to reception where Judy was on the phone to 911.

"Yes she's in labor!!! Her water broke and she's in pain!!! I watched her water break there's a huge puddle staring right at me! Just get someone here!" snapped Judy, Hodges had never seen the middle age woman be so bossy in his whole time at the lab.

"If your not doing anything to help this poor lady, I suggest you go to work and leave her alone," snapped Hodges glaring at the lab techs. The day shift techs went to work and the night shift techs started trying to figure out the best way to get a hold of the Greg in the field.

"They all went to walkie talkie; their cells won't work in the middle of nowhere. Do you think they can turn the chopper around?" asked Mandy. Jenna muttered another stream of swears.

"Let me talk to the bitch who kidnapped Sara…I wanna kill her!" snapped Jenna. The EMT's came in with a gurney and pushed Hodges and Wendy out of the way.

"Hey sweetheart, I'm Ryan and this is Mark, how you feeling?" asked Ryan. Jenna just glared at him.

"I'm thirty four weeks pregnant, my water broke, I'm in a shit ton of pain right now and the sperm donor is heading to the desert to find his missing co-worker! HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL DUMBASS?" 

"Ok, we're gonna get you to the hospital and see if we can do something about the pain," said Mark taking her pulse. They got Jenna on the gurney and she curled up in fetal position and started crying.

"It really hurts." Hodges took Jenna's hand.

"I'm going with her." Everyone just looked at him shocked.

"Sir if you're not the father or family…" said Ryan but Wendy cut him off.

"I'm going too and right now we're the family of the father and we're not letting her go alone." Ryan seem torn, Mark was getting an IV in Jenna.

"Let them come, we need to get her to the hospital now," said Mark.

"Alright, come on." Mark and Ryan started pushing the gurney out.

"Get on the horn and find away to get Sanders's ass back here," snapped Hodges following the gurney.

"Yes sir," said Bobby and he started running trying to find either Ecklie or McKeen.

"We'll keep you guys in the loop," yelled out Wendy running to keep up with the gurney. The EMT's lifted Jenna into the back of the ambulance and Hodges and Wendy climbed in a sat on the right side of gurney and Hodges was holding her hand.

"I want Greg," whimpered Jenna and Hodges tightened his grip on her.

"We're getting him," said Wendy. Jenna drifted in and out during the ride to the hospital.

_I hope we get him in time,_ thought Wendy.

Notes- Yeah cliffhanger chapters are fun!!!!

Episodes- Living Doll and Dead Doll

Songs- Goo Goo Dolls- Give a little bit

Pearl Jam-Elderly woman behind the counter in a small town

The Sundays-Wild Horses


	24. Pleading

Pleading

"Shitpissfuckcuntcockersockermotherfuckertits!" muttered Jenna sucking in a breath.

"Wow all seven and in one breath too, I'm impressed," said Hodges.

"Shut up," snapped Jenna.

"Damn it Hodges, if you're going to be here at least do something useful," said Wendy pulling out her cell phone and trying to call Nick again. He sighed and started pacing again, where the hell was her doctor?

They had been waiting in an exam room for over thirty minutes. They had been taken to a private exam room the moment they came in; they waited ten minutes for a nurse who kicked Wendy and him out for about twenty minutes while she examined Jenna. The nurse came back out and told them that she was in labor. _No shit,_ thought Hodges. And that Jenna was already five centimeters dilated, but they needed to start timing contractions.

"An hour give or take a few minutes…I think that's how far the contractions are apart," said Jenna. Hodges set his watch on timer and sat down next to Wendy.

"Any luck?"

"No, just static, figures you can put a man on the moon but you can't get a cell signal in the desert!" Wendy threw the phone in her bag disgusted. "We're really trying to get a hold of someone who can get us in touch with Greg, but the whole team is in the middle of nowhere right now. Can we call anyone else for you?"

"My mom is out of town with my sister in law who broke her leg, my brother is supervising a senior trip, and my best friend is at bridal show in New York." Jenna looked down at the bump. "You couldn't have waited another couple of days…it had to be now!"

"Yeah, it's Greg Sanders kid. Impatience as hell," said Hodges. Jenna let out a mini giggle.

"Yeah…that's Greg all over." Dr. Minhi opened the door and looked that group.

"I heard that someone decided to speed things up. Sorry I'm late; someone decided to have triplets the hard way. So what time did the water break?"

"Around seven this morning," said Jenna.

"Have you been timing the contractions?" asked Minhi.

"I think they're an hour apart," said Jenna.

"Well, someone's in a hurry. We're going to move you upstairs and prep you for delivery. Nurse Robin is going to help you move up to the sixth floor and we're going to start monitoring you and the baby and just wait it out," said Minhi.

"Whoa wait it out; I can't have this baby now! Its six weeks too soon and no! I can't have this baby now. Isn't their something you can do to stop this? I mean drugs, I'll stay in bed for the next six weeks, just stop the labor," said Jenna.

"Can you stop the labor?" asked Hodges.

"I could, but her water's already broken and that means it's coming now and I can't slow it down or stop it now. The best we can do now is watch you and the baby closely. We'll tell the neonatal ward to stand by and we're going to run some tests to make sure the baby is ok and that you're alright too. It's going to be alright, I promise. "

"Did I do something wrong?" asked Jenna near tears. "I mean did I do something to cause this?" Hodges and Wendy felt horrible for her and Wendy wrapped an arm around her and Minhi sat down in front of her.

"No, of course not it just happens from time to time. No one knows what causes premature labor, trust me you're not to blame. Let's just get you upstairs and start monitoring you two. It's going to be alright I promise…where's Greg?"

"Oh he's in the desert looking for our co-worker who was kidnapped and placed under a car by a psycho who makes miniatures," said Hodges. Dr. Minhi looked at him like he was crazy and Jenna shrugged.

"I know, it sounds crazy but it's true." Minhi shook his head.

"Let's just get you upstairs." He paged for the nurse and headed upstairs to order the tests. The nurse helped Jenna into a wheelchair and the three of them made their way upstairs.

"Can you call my mom…I mean, I know she's not going to get here in time, but still?" asked Jenna. Wendy reached into Jenna's purse and grabbed her cell phone.

"I'll even call Greg's parents; they should be in the loop too." Jenna gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, they should." Wendy took the phone and went down the hall to make the calls. "They should be since their son can't." she bit her lip and looked near tears and Hodges took her hand.

_Damn it, where the hell is Sanders_," thought Hodges.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

_God it just goes on forever_, thought Greg looking down from the helicopter. Jenna had told him once she had grown up in God's Sandbox and he thought she was joking until he moved to Vegas, it was a sandbox a very nasty sandbox. That was the one thing Greg hated about moving to the field was the desert hikes to find bodies, because you could almost always count on finding a body that you weren't looking for and opening up another can of worms. He sighed and looked down again, hoping to spot the car.

Nick had been able to figure out who towed the car out here and Brass was able to get a location from the guy who towed the car and now they were franticly trying to find the car. Greg looked down and something shiny caught his eye, he grabbed the binoculars next to him to get a better look.

_Oh god there it is!_ You could hardly see it because it had been buried under the sand, parts of the desert had flooded last night and this looked to be one of the places where it flooded. _Oh god let Sara not be there, she could have gotten out._ He called out to the pilot.

"To the left, down there! That's it, that's the car!" The pilot started calling dispatch and the cars started speeding in that direction. _Don't let her be there, don't let her be there!_ The helicopter couldn't land here, it would scatter sand and make searching worse, so Greg watched Nick and Grissom bolt from their SUV and start franticly digging at the packed in sand that had buried the car. They both stopped and Nick stood up holding what looked like Sara's stab vest. _Oh god…please don't let her be there._ Other officers came running forward with some shovels and they all started to dig. Grissom stepped aside for a moment and it looked like he was talking on cell, but he hung up quickly and looked annoyed and then he went back to digging. They dug quickly and couldn't find Sara under the car. Greg felt a huge sense of relief, _she got out._ The pilot started heading west.

"They found some shoe prints heading west, I'm gonna take us out that way."

"Ok," said Greg and he looked down and saw that Catherine had arrived and she, Grissom and some other officers were walking towards the footprints. The pilot took them up higher than before and started heading west. _Please let Sara be alright._

Greg looked out over the never ending stretch of sand and felt hopeless frustrated. _God it's almost a hundred degrees out here and she hasn't had any water,_ thought Greg. He sighed and made himself focus on desert in front of him. _I hope Grissom is holding up, I couldn't be this calm if Jenna was out here._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

_Oh God no…don't let her be under here…it's my fault about Ernie Dell not Sara._ Grissom started tearing at the sand when Nick found the vest. _She got out…oh thank god!_ _Where did she go though? _His phone went off; he was shocked that he got some sort of signal out here. He stepped away for a second and answered the phone…hoping that maybe someone had spotted Sara.

"Grissom….Conrad…luck…Sara." He was cutting out horribly and Grissom had no desire to talk to Ecklie right now.

"I'm busy right now!"

"Sand…he….at desert," said Ecklie cutting in and out.

"We'll talk later!" Grissom hung up his phone and went back to digging. _She's got out, but where did she go?_ He stopped digging when they brought in the back hoe, he looked out and felt a small sense of relief, shoe prints. She had started heading west, if her prints where still here, it meant she got out before the flood and had hopefully managed to make it to higher ground.

"Catherine! I got shoe prints!" called out Grissom. Catherine yelled out the order that they were searching on foot, but Grissom was already ten steps ahead of her and he thought about the last real conversation they had right before they went on shift.

"You're telling me that Greg Sanders the person I caught head banging one day in DNA with a latex glove on his head and a surgical mask on to Marylyn Manson wants more children. Oh God help us all," said Grissom picking up some papers from the kitchen table while Sara was feeding Hank.

"I almost choked on my sugar cookies when he said that, but you have to admit he's a big kid himself. He'll be a good dad. I do wonder about his decision to have us has godparents."

"Why?" asked Grissom. "Greg was right about godparents having a vested interest in the upbringing and personal development of the child. And considering that we did take an interest in Greg and his personal development, I can understand why he picked us."

"I suck with kids, you know this."

"You don't suck with children; you just lack experience and general understanding of children, maybe being a godparent will help you get over that anxiety you have with children." Sara started laughing.

"Thinking about becoming a shrink?"

"No, I'm just pointing maybe this will give you a chance to see that children aren't scary. In fact, sometimes they're kind of fun." Sara reached down and started petting Hank.

"Speaking from experience?"

"Lindsey was fun when she was younger, she used to try to play with my roaches until Catherine caught her and we both got in trouble." Grissom bent down and started petting Hank too. "You're going to be a good godparent."

"I'll take your word for it," said Sara and she got up and finished getting ready. She told Grissom she was going to pick up dinner at the strip mall and swing by the bookstore to maybe pick up a book about what being a god parent meant. That was the last time they talked before he called her about Natalie.

Grissom looked down at his cell phone to see that Ecklie was calling again. He hung it up; he only wanted to find Sara right now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I tried," said Ecklie hanging up the phone. Mandy and Bobby looked at him shocked.

"But she's in labor…like right now! No, you have to try again! Her water broke here in the lab and we really need to get a hold of Greg," said Mandy.

"Sanders is in a helicopter, in the middle of nowhere looking for one of the best CSI we have, this recuse operation is costing the City millions, if I call him back, McKeen will kill me and you and anyone else he can get his hands on. I can't call him back in until they find Sidle or start running out of fuel. My hands are really tied on this. My wife was in labor for over twenty hours with our first…he'll be notified when he gets back to base to head to Desert Palms. Now Miss Webster and Mr. Dawson I suggest you either go home or help days with their backlog," said Ecklie.

"But she's gone into labor early; she might not have twenty hours of labor. For all we know she could have had the baby on the way to the hospital," said Mandy. Ecklie glared at her and Bobby knew they were fighting a lost cost and gently pulled Mandy out of Ecklie's office and he shut the door.

"You were a big help," snapped Mandy at Bobby.

"It wouldn't have mattered what we said he wouldn't help us." Bobby sighed and they started walking down the hall. "Well I'm at a lost for how to get a hold of someone in the field. The cells aren't working and they're all on walkie talkie." Henry and Archie meet them near the front entrance.

"Any luck?" asked Henry.

"Nope, Ecklie got a hold of Grissom for ten seconds before the connection went dead or Grissom just isn't answering calls from him until he finds Sara," said Bobby.

"This is crap! I'm trying Nick's cell and working my way down," said Mandy.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Nick was sitting next to Sofia in the SUV when his cell went off. They were checking out the roads on the other side of the pass.

"I didn't think we get anything out here that wasn't on walkie talkie," said Sofia.

"Who knows?" Nick flipped it open. "Stokes!"

"Oh thank god we got someone! We need to talk to Greg!" said a female voice.

"Mandy?" asked Nick. _What hell are the lab rats doing?_

"Yes it's me and we…Nick can you hear me!!! It's really important and" all Nick heard was static and he hung up the phone and turned back to looking out the window.

"What did she want?" asked Sofia.

"Who knows what the lab rats are doing. If it was important Ecklie or Grissom would be calling. Let's just focus on what we came out here for," said Nick turning back to the window and kept looking for Sara in the endless dune.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"No, don't hang up Nick! Nicky!!!" Mandy hung up the phone. "See if I rush prints for you again." Mandy sighed. "If he can't get calls he can't get text right?"

"Yeah, no signal is no signal," said Archie.

"I tried Catherine earlier and I couldn't get anything," said Henry.

"Warrick is also a no go," said Judy hanging up her phone at front desk.

"Oh this is a whole bunch of crap," said Mandy.

"Greg's gonna be pissed if he misses his kid being born," said Bobby.

"Pissed is an understatement, he's gonna be devastated," said Archie. Dr. Robbins and David came up to them.

"Who's up for a road trip?" asked Dr. Robbins and the group looked at him like he was crazy.

"Have you been drinking the embalming fluid?" asked Archie.

"No, I wouldn't be talking to you if had been. I heard one of the officers say the team was headed out to Ice Box Canyon, if we get a hold of one the park rangers he can put us in touch with who we need. I'm heading out there right now, it's not everyday you're first child is born," said Robbins. "Any takers?"

"I'll go," said Archie.

"Me too," said Bobby.

"I'm gonna head to the hospital to see how she's doing," said Mandy.

"Can I come?" asked Judy.

"I have a van, we can all head to the hospital," said Henry.

"So it's settled, come on it's a long drive," said Dr. Robbins heading out.

"You know, we could sell this story to Dateline: Operation Desert Baby," said David. Dr. Robbins looked at him.

"David don't make me hit you with this," said Robbins gesturing with is cane.

"Sorry."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"I think you could make a killing selling flavored ice chips. You know peach-flavored, watermelon flavored, beer flavored ice chips," said Hodges taking an ice chip out of the bowl that was next to the bed side.

"Stop eating her ice chips," said Wendy. Jenna couldn't eat anything in case they had to put her under. So the nurse had brought her a bowl of ice chips to suck on. Hodges had eaten more of them than Jenna had.

"I don't mind…flavored ice chips. You could be an investor; you got a booming market here and oooowwww," Jenna grabbed the bed rail and just squeezed it and took a deep breath. Hodges looked at his watch.

"The contractions are about 45 minutes apart." He took another ice chip and reset his watch. Wendy sighed and looked at fetal heart monitor they had strapped to Jenna; it had a good rhythm, which meant the baby wasn't in distress and that it was still alive. A nurse knocked on the door and shrugged.

"Sorry I have to kick you two out again." Hodges nodded and told the nurse that the contractions were forty five minutes apart and he and Wendy left the room so she could examine Jenna. Wendy sat down on the floor across the hall and Hodges started pacing.

"So Sanders's parents are on the way, her mother's trying to get home and we have no clue where the father is. This is grand," said Hodges.

"I feel the need to get totally trashed after this is done and I'm gonna get trashed for Jenna and for Sara," said Wendy.

"You think Sara is still alive?" asked Hodges.

"She's a tough chick. You have to be to be dating Grissom, she's gonna be fine."

"Wow her and Grissom…I imagined Grissom with someone a little…"

"Older," said Wendy.

"No….more…his type," said Hodges.

"Well considering what workaholics the two of them are, I think they're a perfect match. A bit odd, but good for other each," said Wendy. Hodges sat down next to her.

"I think she's alive too." The two of them exchanged a look and Hodges went to say something else when Mandy called out.

"Hey guys." Hodges looked down the hall to see Mandy, Judy and Henry coming towards them.

"Any luck getting a hold of anyone?" asked Hodges standing up.

"Nope, I had Nick on the phone for about six seconds and then he hung up on me when he couldn't hear me. I tried texting, but if he can't get calls he can't get texts. I have no clue where Warrick is and Catherine isn't answering her phone either. Ecklie tried to call Grissom and he got hung up on. Dr. Robbins, Super Dave, Bobby and Archie are headed out to Ice Box Canyon to see if the park rangers can get them in touch You guys have any luck?" asked Mandy.

"The Sanders are coming out and her mom is trying to find a way home right now. This is bullshit," said Wendy. "The next time you go to a City Hall budget meeting, request that the city chip in and get some better communication devices so in case of emergencies so field officers can be reached."

"I plan on it," said Hodges. The nurse came back out and addressed the group.

"She's up to seven centimeters and with the contractions being only 45 minutes apart, she could be having the baby very shortly."

"How shortly?" asked Henry.

"She could possible have this baby within the next two or three hours. I'll be back to check on her in an hour." The nurse walked off and the group looked at each other.

"They better get a hold of him soon," said Hodges and he walked back in the room and sat down next to Jenna who looked exhausted. Mandy looked at Hodges shocked.

"Grissom's dating Sara and Hodges is being nice to Greg's pregnant girlfriend. My world is very askew and I'm starving. Any takers for breakfast?" asked Mandy.

"We have to eat downstairs, Jenna can't eat and it's just plain mean to eat in front of her," said Wendy.

"The gift shop is downstairs, maybe we can get her something to pass the time," suggested Judy. The group headed downstairs and Wendy looked back in the room, Jenna and Hodges were sharing a pair of head phones from an I-pod and Hodges was holding her hand and he looked like he was singing. _Yeah the world is very askew._

Hodges came back into the room and sat back down in the chair that was next to the bedside.

"Can I get you anything?" He felt horrible, something he didn't feel very often. She looked pale and tried and she looked on the verge of tears from the pain, the nurse had offered some meds earlier, but she turned them down saying that she was doing this without drugs. She sighed and wiped her eyes.

"You wanna listen to some music; the loud speaker is getting annoying. I have my I-pod in my purse." Hodges grabbed the purse from the table near the window and pulled out the I-pod and handed it to her. "Any preference, I was listening to _Walk the Line_."

"I didn't peg you for a Johnny Cash fan," said Hodges. Jenna put an ear bud in her ear and Hodges took the other and flipped the I-pod on.

"My grandmother was. When I was little she used to listen to all the greats: Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Rosemary Clooney. I think Johnny Cash was the closest she every got to rock and roll though, I think she liked Cash more than Sinatra even though she wouldn't admit it. It would be an insult to her Italian roots to admit it." She turned the volume up a little bit, put on hand over her bump and sang to herself.

_Go away from my window  
Leave at your own chosen speed  
I'm not the one you want, babe  
I'm not the one you need  
You say you're lookin' for someone  
Who's never weak but always strong  
To protect you and defend you  
Whether you are right or wrong  
Someone to open each and every door_

But it ain't me babe  
No, no, no, it ain't me babe  
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Hodges grinned and took her hand, "I prefer the Bob Dylan version." He started to sing out of tune with her.

_Go lightly from the ledge, babe  
Go lightly on the ground  
I'm not the one you want, babe  
I'll only let you down  
You say you're lookin' for someone  
Who'll promise never to part  
Someone to close his eyes to you  
Someone to close his heart  
Someone to die for you and more_

_But it ain't me babe  
No, no, no, it ain't me babe  
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe _

"Any luck getting a hold of Greg?" asked Jenna pausing the song. He took out the ear bud.

"No, not yet. We're trying though, but being in the middle of nowhere it's hard. The morgue monkeys and some lab rats are heading out to Ice Box Canyon to see if they can get anyone." Jenna nodded and looked at him.

"Why are you being so nice to me, you hate Greg."

"I'm going to blame your hormones on you being so blunt. I don't hate Sanders, I just think he made a poor career choice leaving the lab and going to the field and he has poor taste in music and he plays pranks on me that I dislike. Other than that, I have no issue with him and I know if the situation was different and I was in the field, and that will never happen, and my significant other was going into labor he would be here with her, eating her ice chips and singing Johnny Cash out of tune." Jenna nodded and turned the I-pod back on.

"Thank you." Hodges popped an ice chip in his mouth and shrugged.

_They better get his ass here,_ thought Hodges.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Sir's you need to turn around," said the officer.

Archie was driving his car and Dr. Robbins was riding shot gun with Bobby and David in the back. It had taken them over two hours to get here due to all the roadblocks and some of the roads still being flooded and washed out from last night. So far they had been lucky with the road blocks all they need to do was show a badge and they were waved though, the flooded roads on the other hand, involved back tracking and taking a whole new road. Archie cursed his decision to take his car; they should have taken on the CSI's SUV's instead for the flooded roads

"We're with the CSI's," said Archie pulling out his ID. The officer eyed it and shook his head.

"You're not with the field CSI's though and you need to turn around." The car had been stopped at a road block two miles from Ice Box Canyon and it was all Archie could do to not snap at this asshole. Dr. Robbins leaned over and threw his badge at the uniform.

"I am though, I'm the coroner and you either let us through or do I need to get out of this car and start walking," snapped Robbins. The uniform looked at the badge and stepped away from the car. He pulled out his walkie talkie and started to speak to someone. They spoke for several minutes and then he came back to the car.

"They haven't called a coroner yet, so how do you know about the body?" asked the officer. All the men in car felt something horrible sink in, Sara was dead.

"Oh no," muttered Dave and he took off his glasses.

"Poor Sara," said Bobby and he put his head in hands. The officer gave them a look.

"Sara…you mean Sara Sidle?" asked the officer.

"No we mean Sara Jean Underwood you moron of course me mean Sara Sidle. She's the body right?" snapped Bobby.

"No, the hiker they found…you're here for the hiker," said the officer.

"No we're trying too…" said Archie

"I need all of you gentlemen to step out of the car nice and easy now," said the officer.

"Why?" asked Dave.

"You either turn around or get out of the car. I don't know who you guys are or what you're doing out here, but you need to leave. You're interfering with a very important search and recuse mission," said the officer. Archie never wanted to kick someone's ass so badly and he glared at the officer.

"Now you listen here you piece of shit with a badge. I've had a really bad day and my best friend's girlfriend is in labor and is going to have his kid any minute now and he's out there looking for Sara Sidle. Now you either move and get out the way or I'm going to have the Doctor give you a rectum exam that you never forget," snapped Archie. The officer just looked at him and got on his walkie talkie.

"Can you get Captain Jim Brass up here? I have some issues up here." Archie just threw his head back and groaned.

"God damn-it!" His phone chipped and he looked at the text from Mandy and fought the urge to slam his head into the steering wheel.

_It's coming now!!!! _

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

"Oh god damn it," whined Jenna. She curled up and started screaming in pain. She fell back on the bed and started crying. Hodges jumped up from the chair and screamed down the hall for a nurse. Wendy went over to her bedside and started wiping sweat off Jenna's forehead. Mandy pulled out her cell and started texting Archie. Henry and Judy has left for the airport to wait for Greg's parents. A nurse came in and checked Jenna.

"When was the last contraction?" asked the nurse.

"Twenty five minutes ago," said Hodges checking his watch. The nurse frowned and paged for Minhi.

"She's nine and half centimeters dilated, we're going to move her to delivery. I suggest if you want to stay with her, you wash up and get some scrubs," said the nurse. Minhi came in and double checked her.

"Someone wants to meet you quite badly," said Minhi teasing her.

"Is the baby ok?" asked Jenna.

"Your baby is fine we're just going to move you to another room and get you ready to push, alright." Minhi whispered to the nurse and they started wheeling the bed from that room to another unit down the hall. Hodges, Wendy and Mandy followed.

"Archie's not answering my text, which either means he got up to Ice Box Canyon and he's not getting any signal or I don't know," said Mandy flustered. Hodges sighed and Wendy looked worried.

"Well I suggest we scrub up and stay with her until we hear something from the field," said Wendy.

"I think getting sloshed after this is over is a great idea," said Hodges. "And I think the night shift should buy us drinks."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

"What the hell is going on up here?" snapped Brass. It took him and hour to get up here to the checkpoint. He had been called by a twitchy uniform saying that four guys with lab ids where trying to get pass the roadblock. The four men in question were sitting on the side of road looking really pissed off. Brass looked at the four men who were handcuffed and his jaw dropped. It was Dr. Robbins, Dave, Archie and Bobby.

"Hey Jim," said Bobby.

"About damn time you got up here, what the hell kind of morons is the LVPD employing these days," snapped Robbins.

"What the hell are you doing, he's the coroner," said Brass.

"But you didn't call him and what's he doing up here if he hasn't been called?" asked the officer.

"I told you, CSI Sanders has a girlfriend who is in labor, he's out here right now looking for CSI Sidle and we couldn't reach him and no one would call him to come back in, so we came out here to get his ass. However we met you instead you fucking moron," said Archie.

"Isn't your foul mouth what got us handcuffed in the first place?" asked David.

"Yeah, so shut the hell up Archie!" snapped Bobby.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Brass.

"Jenna's water broke into the lab she's in labor right now, Mandy just sent me a text and Jenna is having the baby right now!" snapped Archie.

"We couldn't reach anyone out here so we decided to come out here ourselves and get him," said Dave.

"Why didn't Ecklie call Grissom?" asked Brass and than he realized how retarded that sounded considering everything going on.

"We need to get a hold of Greg and now," said Archie.

"Can we get these handcuffs off first?" asked Robbins. Brass instructed the officer to un-cuff the four men and than his walkie talkie buzzed.

"Brass this is CSI Stokes we found CSI Sidle she's being air lifted to Desert Palms."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Nick breathed a sigh of relief and watched the medi-vac take off with Sara and Grissom. Catherine started crying tears of joy and hugged Sofia.

"Thank god, I knew she would make it," said Catherine. Sofia started laughing.

"She was always hard headed." Nick's walkie talkie buzzed back and he heard what sounded like a bunch of whooping and shouting.

"Nick, this is Jim, thanks for the good news…is Sanders with you right now?" Nick thought back to earlier when he thought he heard Mandy asking for him.

"Why all the requests for Greggo?" asked Nick. "He's still in the helicopter; I was just getting ready to radio him."

"Well I suggest you tell him to get his ass down here right now!" said another voice.

"Archie?" asked Nick. "What the hell are you doing out here?"

"Trying to tell Greggo that his kid is on the way and he needs to get his ass out to Desert Palms!" snapped Archie.

"What," said Catherine. "She's not due for at least another six weeks."

"Why do you think we're out here?" asked another voice.

"Is that Bobby?" asked Sofia.

"Just tell Greg to get his ass down here," said Archie.

"You heard the man," said Brass. Nick fumbled for his radio and started to radio the helicopter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg's eyes burned from staring at the sand and sun for hours. His legs were numb from sitting in the cramped position for hours. He kept looking though, hoping to see a figure walking through the desert. _God how far could she have gotten,_ thought Greg. The helicopter had another hour before it needed to turn around and refuel and that took at least an hour and he hated to waste search time. His radio buzzed and he answered it.

"Sanders."

"Greg! You and the pilot need to land at the base near the check point at Turtle Creek and I mean now," said Nick.

"What's going on? Did we find Sara?" asked Greg. _Please not her body._

"We found Sara, she's alive. You need to get to Desert Palms ASAP; Jenna's water broke the baby's on its way." Greg knew if he wasn't strapped in he would have fallen out of his seat.

"WHAT!" screamed Greg. _Shit…she's not due for another couple of weeks and oh god who's with her…is she all alone, is she ok?_ Greg told the pilot that they found Sara and that they were to land at the check point and to let him out there.

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes," said the pilot. Greg's radio buzzed again.

"Greg can you hear me?" asked a voice.

"Archie?" asked Greg.

"Yeah it's me we came up here to get you after everything else failed. I got a text from Mandy, they moved Jenna from her private room to delivery and that she, Hodges and Wendy are scrubbing up to be in the room with her." _Hodges! _

"Hodges is with her!"

"He and Wendy went with her to the hospital when her water broke at the lab when she came to pick you up," said Archie.

"When was this?" asked Greg. God he had almost forgot that Jenna was going to meet him after shift and that they were going to do Lamaze and go shopping for the baby which had decided to come right now.

"Around seven," said Archie. "Wendy ran up to the roof to get you, but she just missed you." _The person jumping on the roof._

"We have a five minute ETA," said the pilot. Jim got on the radio.

"We'll take one of the squad cars to the hospital, just hurry up and land," said Jim. Greg sighed and clicked off and started twisting Jenna's necklace again.

_She needs to be ok, they both need to be ok! _ The pilot landed and Greg all but jumped out of the helicopter and ran over to where Archie, Dave, Bobby, Dr. Robbins, Nick, and Catherine were waiting.

"Jim and Sofia are clearing the road block, here take my phone and call Mandy she's with Jenna," said Archie handing him his cell phone.

"Come on, I'll drive," said Nick getting in a SUV.

"We'll meet you there," said Bobby. Nick, Greg and Catherine got into the SUV and took off. Greg franticly dialed Mandy's cell.

"Come on pick up, pick up…" muttered Greg.

"What!" snapped Mandy. "You better have Greg Sanders, Archie Johnston or I'm going to kick your ass."

"Mandy it's me! How's Jen?" asked Greg.

"Why don't you ask her yourself." He heard something in the background that sounded like crying and he heard a shuddering breath.

"Hi honey," said Jenna. Oh god, she sounded so weak and far away.

"Hey baby, how you doing?"

"Sore, tried…where are you? Did you guys find Sara?"

"Yeah we found Sara, I'm on my way there ok, just hang in there ok." He heard her struggling to breathe and he heard Hodges talking to her.

"Sweetie, you have to breathe come on breathe with me."

"It hurts," she cried.

"Jen, come on honey you have to breathe, come on in…" he heard her draw a shuddering breath in. "and out." And she let out. _Come on baby hang in there._

"Jenna I need you to push for me," said a voice that Greg assumed was Minhi. _What no…don't tell her to push I'm not there._ He heard her scream and had to yank the phone away from his ear and Nick and Catherine looked at the phone fearful.

"It hurts, it hurts, it really hurts," she was sobbing and Greg wanted to cry for her, she sounded like it was all she could do to keep going. He heard Wendy and Mandy shushing her in the background, telling her that it was going to be alright and that she was doing a great job. _I'm supposed to be there telling her it's ok. _

"Honey, it's going to be alright. I'm on the way…just hang in there please. Stay on the line," said Greg.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry, I tried to wait for you and…" she was struggling to breathe again.

"Come on in and out, you have to breathe baby." Nick stepped on the gas again and he had already turned the lights and sirens on the SUV.

"I need you to push again for me," said Minhi.

"No, I can't…tired…he's not here yet," muttered Jenna. Greg bit his lip, it hurt him to have to tell her this, but he knew if he didn't she wouldn't do what Minhi was telling her and she could hurt herself or the baby. _This is what's best for her._

"Honey, you need to push for him. I'm on my way, just do what he tells you."

"But…"

"No buts, just do what he tells you and push." He heard her scream again and he heard the lab rats in the background telling her it was alright.

"We need two more pushes from you and this will be all over with," he heard someone say in the background. Greg could see Vegas skyline ahead, they were getting close but he knew he was going to miss his baby being born and it broke his heart a little.

"Greg…"

"I love you, we're getting close," said Greg. Somewhere in the background he heard Minhi telling Jenna to push again, her voice was raw from screaming and he knew Catherine and Nick were giving him looks.

"I take it she's not on drugs," said Catherine quietly.

"We agreed not to, bad for the baby…she was just going to yell at me instead," said Greg quietly. The screaming had turned to sobbing and it was all he could do not to cry with her.

"We got a head, I need one more big push from you and this will all be over with," he heard Minhi say.

"Jenna push for me ok sweetheart, that's all you have to do is one more push." He her defeated sigh and she gave one last scream and than it got quite.

"It's a girl," he heard Minhi call out. It was still quite…what's going on.

"Jen, Jenna…baby are you there?"

"Why isn't she crying," he heard her mutter. _Oh god…no…please no._ He heard something beeping in the background and than it became a mess of noise.

"What's happening?" asked Hodges.

"Jenna, oh god come on Jenna stay with us," he heard Wendy say.

"We need to intubate the baby and get the mother to the OR stat," snapped Minhi. _What the hell is going on?_

"Jenna! Jenna can you hear me," screamed Greg. They were five blocks from the hospital now.

"I don't know what's going on, I'm so tired Greg." He heard the phone hit the floor and he heard more noise.

"BP is low," he heard someone say.

"What's wrong with her," snapped Hodges.

"GET THEM OUT OF HERE AND GET HER TO THE OR BEFORE SHE BLEEDS OUT!" screamed Minhi. He heard a rustling noise and the sounds of someone telling the three lab rats to leave the room.

"Are they going to be alright?" snapped Mandy.

"The baby is breathing and we're moving her to NICU." _Oh thank god…Jenna what about Jenna._

"What about the mother?" asked Wendy.

"It's too soon to tell," said the nurse. Greg felt cold all over.

"Mandy, Wendy, fucking someone talk to me!" snapped Greg. He heard Hodges get on the phone.

"Greg, Jenna started to hemorrhage they're taking up to surgery…the baby is heading to NICU. How far away are you?"

"Four blocks," he said softly. _Please let her be ok, you saved Sara._

"We'll be waiting for you out front," said Hodges and he hung up the phone. Greg slumped back in the seat and just put his head in hands.

"Greggo, what happened?" asked Catherine.

"I have a daughter who's in NICU and Jenna is in the OR, she started to hemorrhage."

"Greg…" started Nick.

"Just drive faster," said Greg and he started twisting her necklace in his hands. _I should have been with her, Sara had Grissom with her and Jenna…I left her with Hodges and she's been alone for hours and I should have been with her. _Nick pulled into visitor parking and Greg ran from the car to the front entrance of the hospital. _Let them be ok…please…please god let them be ok._

Notes-Episode-Dead Doll

Song-Johnny Cash and June Carter (Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon) It Ain't Me Babe. It seem fitting at the time for Jenna and Hodges.

Cliffhangers are evil aren't they…the next chapter may take awhile, I'm on Spring Break, but I have some massive projects that need to be done and while I love writing this, I enjoy the thought of finishing college next December even more. So please be patience with me.

Thanks for the reviews.


	25. Reunions

Reunion

Greg found Wendy, Hodges and Mandy standing by the front entrance and he went up to them.

"Where's Jenna?" Wendy took him over to a group of chairs and made him sit down.

"They took her surgery, we haven't heard anything yet, it's too soon." He felt overwhelmingly frustrated and he just wanted some answers.

"What happened?" Mandy shrugged.

"We don't know, she was fine one second and than she started bleeding and the doctor threw us out." Hodges frowned at him.

"Your daughter is NICU, she had some trouble breathing but they got her breathing and they won't let anyone else other than family members see her, you should go and see her," said Hodges.

"Come on, the maternity ward is on the sixth floor." Wendy went to take Greg's hand and he yanked it away.

"I wanna see Jenna." Wendy and Mandy exchanged glances.

"Greg you can't right now she's in surgery," said Mandy.

"Wendy, Mandy go away for a moment," said Hodges.

"What?" asked Wendy.

"I need to talk to Sanders, take a hike!" snapped Hodges.

"Fine," said Wendy and she and Mandy stalked off and Hodges turned to Greg.

"I know you feel like shit right now and you feel that you've failed in some horrible way. But, right now you need to pull your shit together for Jenna and for your daughter. I know if Jenna wasn't in the OR she would bitch slap you and tell you to go see your baby. She didn't want to leave the baby alone and she had too, she would want you to be with the baby right now. The doctors will get you when she's out of surgery and she's going to be fine. Go and see your daughter now!" Greg looked at Hodges and he was right, he felt like shit.

"She needed me and I wasn't here. I'm never there when she needs me. I either push her away or I'm just not there for her when she needs me. I don't deserve to see that baby…I don't…" Hodges cut him off.

"What did I tell you about getting your shit together? You can have the world's biggest pity party when she's out of surgery, right now you have a little girl who's only a few minutes old who's alone and needs someone. You want to make this up to Jen, go see that baby. I'll drag you up to NICU if I have too, but you're going to see that baby one way or another. I didn't spend all day here with your girlfriend and watch her go through drug free childbirth for you to puss out." Greg just looked at Hodges and Hodges stared back. "Are you going up or do I have drag you?" Greg just glared at Hodges and went over to the nearest elevator.

"Ask for nurse Lowey when you get up there," said Hodges. Greg got in the elevator and jammed the button for the sixth floor. _He's right you know about what Jenna would want._

Truth be told Greg was terrified to see her, she was six weeks early. _God she could have birth defects, illnesses, oh god what if she doesn't make it._ That thought about tore his heart out, despite being terrified to see her he loved this baby and he hadn't even met her yet. He knew it would destroy Jenna if the baby didn't make it, she didn't talk much about the baby she had lost with Andy, but he could tell by the tone her voice took, the look in her eyes when she did talk about it how much it hurt. _Please let them be ok, you saved Sara…save them._

He got out of the elevator and the light blue walls and soft music almost made him feel like he was on a different planet. He walked over to a nurse at the front desk and she looked up at him.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Um…Jenna Bianchi had a baby…I'm the father Greg Sanders, can I see her…the baby I mean?" he asked. The nurse looked at him and flipped through a folder she had on her desk.

"Baby girl Bianchi…"

"Sanders," he corrected her.

"We have her listed by the mother's last name…she's in NICU. One of Dr. Minhi's interns is running some test on the baby right now. If you have a seat over…"

"Wait what tests; I just want someone to give me some straight answers about my fiancée and my daughter why is that so god damn hard?" snapped Greg. The nurse just looked at him.

"Sir if you just have a seat."

"No I don't want to have a seat; I want to know what the hell is going on. I get here after spending five hours in the desert on a search and rescue mission and all I get is half ass answers about my daughter and her mother. I want to talk to someone who can give me answers and now!"

"Mr. Sanders," said a nurse walking over to him. "I'm Janet Lowey; I'm the head nurse for the NICU. Can I help you?"

"My daughter was brought up here a few minutes ago, her mother Jenna Bianchi is in surgery and no one can tell me about my baby or her mother and…I just want to see one of them, just to see if they're ok." Janet nodded.

"Follow me," she started walked down a hallway. "The doctors just finished running their tests and they brought the baby back to NICU."

"What tests?" asked Greg.

"She had some trouble breathing when she came out, we cleared her lungs and we gave her some steroids to help her lungs, but we're watching her closely to make sure she doesn't have respiratory distress or sleep apnea. Her heart looks good so far though and she doesn't appear to have brain damage or any other serious physical defect. They're running some blood tests on her to test her O2 levels and anything else they can think of. I'm going to ask that if you want to be in the ward with her, that you wash up and put on the gown and some gloves. We try to keep the ward as clean as possible for the babies." Greg nodded and Janet looked at him.

"Now I'm going to warn you, she's tiny and she's a sick baby. We have her in an incubator and she has a lot tubes going for breathing and an IV for the steroids. It all looks very scary and intimating, but it's there to help her. Are you ready to see her…actually does she have a name, just so we can put it down in the records."

"Katie…Katie Sanders," said Greg. "Do you know if her mother…" Janet shook her head.

"I don't know yet…my concern was for Katie. The wash up room is over here and the ward is right through the doors on your right." Greg nodded and walked through the doors and washed up and he put on the scrubs and a pair of latex gloves before following Janet into the NICU. It was even quieter in here than in the main lobby of the floor and the lighting in this was room was very dim.

"We keep the lights down in here to calm the babies and help them sleep," said Janet like she was reading his mind. She took him over to an incubator on the far side of the room. "Mr. Sanders, say hello to your daughter."

He looked into the incubator and there she was his baby girl and she appeared to be sleeping. Greg knew he could never deny that she was his daughter the resemblance between them was there. She had Jenna's dark brown hair, but she had his curly hair and she also had his skin color, but he could see Jenna's nose and mouth on her.

She was wearing a diaper, some little pink socks and a little pink hat, the rest of her was covered in tubes and attachments to various machines. They were right about her being tiny he had tools in his field kit bigger than her, hell she could probably fit in his field kit.

God he was surprised that there was a baby under all the tubes, she had an IV in left arm which Greg assumed was pumping the steroids that were helping her lungs. She was also attached to a heart monitor and a respirator and the poor little thing had tubes in her nose. Janet got him a chair and sat it down next to Katie's incubator.

"I'm sorry but I can't let you hold her yet, not with all the tubes. When we get her off the IV and the heart monitor I can let you hold her. You can touch though, just be care to not knock off and of the tubes or attachments. I'll leave you two alone." Janet walked away and Greg sat down in the chair and just stared at Katie, he was terrified to touch her she was so tiny. _You're going to have to sooner or later, this is your daughter now stop being a coward._ He gulped and reached into the side of the incubator and took her right hand and noticed his thumb was just slightly bigger than her whole hand. She started to squirm and fuss in the bed.

"Oh shush honey, don't cry its ok." He took off her hat and started finger combing her curls. She stopped for a moment and opened her little eyes and stared at him half asleep, she also had his brown eyes. _Yeah no denying her_ thought Greg and he remembered what Jenna had told him about babies being able to remember voices. _She knows you, poor thing is probably terrified. Strangers poking and touching her and she's been all alone in a weird place._

"Hey…don't be scared. Trust me, I'm probably scared enough for the both of us." She wrinkled her forehead like she was thinking really hard about something and Greg almost laughed. "You know your mom gets that look when she's thinking really hard about something." Katie stared at him a moment longer before getting a firm grip on his thumb in her hand and dozed back off. He sighed and continued to play with her curls with his free hand.

"You know I always thought your mom was cute when she wrinkled her forehead like that. When we used to work together I would sit across from her and when she was thinking really hard about what prank to pull next her forehead would wrinkle just like that. I wish she was here right now to see you." Greg blinked and tried to hold back how much he wanted to cry. He knew Katie was going to be ok, he just felt in his gut that she was going to be ok, after all she was Sanders.

Now all his worry shifted to Jenna he wanted to go find someone who could tell him something about what condition she was in, but that would mean leaving Katie alone and he couldn't bring himself to leave her here by herself. He knew that Jenna wouldn't want her to be alone and that alone glued him to his seat. He tried to get comfortable in the chair and noticed that Katie still had a firm grip on his thumb and she had managed to get her left hand up towards her mouth without knocking the IV out and was sucking her thumb and even though she was sound asleep she had her head turned towards him and was looking at him in her sleep.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere kjæreste (sweetheart). Daddy's gonna stay with you." Greg was exhausted physical and emotional after everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours and he dozed off holding Katie's hand.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Greg… Please Greg, wake up," said a female voice and he felt a hand on his shoulder. It startled him and he let go of Katie's hand and that woke her up and she started to fuss again. He looked up and saw his mother standing next to him wearing a pair of scrubs and a look of concern.

"I'm sorry I woke you up sweetie, but a Doctor Minhi is looking for you," said Kari. Greg looked at Katie who was getting ready to go into full fledged screaming in seconds. Greg started stroking her hair and talking to her.

"Shush, shush, it's alright småjente (baby girl). Go back to sleep ok," said Greg. Katie looked at him and started to calm down again and she started to fiddle with her hair and she seemed a little more alert now than she did before. His mother smiled at him and gave him a hug.

"She's beautiful, she's so tiny though. I thought it was a doll until I saw her breathing. She has the Hojem eyes though. How are you honey?"

"Tried, worried, scared out of my mind, I think that sums up everything. You said Dr. Minhi was looking for me?" His mother nodded.

"He said that he needed to talk to you about Jenna." Greg felt his stomach clench.

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know baby, your father and I just got here a little bit ago, we spoke to Jenna's mother and she got delayed in Chicago because of thunderstorms. Your CSI friends are bouncing between this floor and the floor with your friend Sara. Dr. Minhi came up to us when we asked a nurse to see you. He asked to see you now." Greg nodded and looked back at Katie in her bed who seemed to be interested in the tube coming out of her arm.

"No don't play with that," said Greg taking her hand. His mother gave him a smile.

"She's only a few hours old and you're already telling her not to do stuff. You're already in daddy mode." Greg shrugged.

"I just don't want her to hurt herself, I think that's the tube for her steroids. It's to help her lungs," said Greg when his mother gave him a questionable look. His mother reached in and started touching Katie's arm and she wrinkled her forehead and looked at Greg clearly saying 'Who's this and why are they touching me?'

"This is Nana Sanders, she doesn't bite too much." Greg looked at Katie and smiled at her. "Daddy has to go away for a moment, Nana Sanders is gonna stay here though. I'll be right back. Mom could you…"

"That's a silly question, I'll stay with her." Greg gave Katie's hand a little squeeze and stepped away from the bed and the crying was instantaneous and it took a great deal of effort to keep walking and not go back to crib. He walked out of the NICU and into the hallway and found Dr. Minhi waiting for him.

"How is she?" asked Greg before Minhi could get a word out.

"She's in recovery right now and she should be waking up shortly."

"What happened, I'm not a doctor but the last time I checked Jenna was in great health and people in good health don't start bleeding after having a baby and have to be rushed to surgery." Minhi motioned for him to sit down. Greg sighed and sat down next to him.

"Jenna had some very serious scaring on her the right side of her uterus and her fallopian tube on that side. We had to remove a section of her uterus, the entire tube and we also had to remove the ovary on that side to stop the bleeding." Greg's jaw dropped.

"She's barely over thirty and you yanked out half her reproductive system. What the hell?" snapped Greg.

"It was a small section and it wasn't by choice it was either leave the damage bleeding tissue there and watch her die or remove it so she could see her daughter grow up. The pregnancy attached itself to the bad tissue, Jenna went into labor early because the tissue couldn't stand the stress anymore and it pulled away. When she delivered the baby the tissue really unattached itself and we didn't have a choice other than to make sure that we got it all and it didn't present any further issues for her." Greg sighed and just shook his head.

"What caused the scar tissue?" asked Greg.

"I went over her medical records in better detail, I knew she miscarried a few years back and that would account for some of it, but the doctor who treated her in the ER was sloppy and he thought her miscarriage was from her falling down the stairs, but…" Greg cut him off.

"Falling down the stairs?" Greg remembered her telling him that she had been fighting with Andy before she miscarried and that it was from stress, she didn't mention falling. Minhi nodded and looked at Greg.

"I'm breaking part of my duty to her as her doctor telling you this, but you could find out one way or another. Despite his sloppiness as a doctor he did file a police report when Jenna came in, she a black eye and was miscarrying. She didn't follow up though…but he thought it was fall that caused it, however the scaring in the tube means the pregnancy was stuck between the tube and the uterus. She had an ectopic pregnancy that could have burst and killed her, so in some fluke of nature sort of way he saved her life when he knocked the down the stairs. But since the ectopic went untreated it caused the scaring."

Greg was shocked, he couldn't believe that Jenna hadn't told him. He knew that if she had he probably would have gone out and hunted the son of bitch down and killed him with his bare hands for doing that to Jenna. He shook his head and turned to Minhi.

"Can she still have kids after all this?"

"I'm not going to lie to you…conception will be difficult, carrying it term will be an issue. I would have to mark her has high risk and watch very closely and I won't let her have it the old fashioned way she would have to have a C-section. However, their are fertility drugs, surrogate mothers, in-vitro, she can still have children but it will be risky and difficult to get pregnant but aside from this she's in perfect health and she's going to be fine. She's on this floor in room 6071, you can go and see her now if you want." Greg eyed the NICU and frowned and Minhi looked at him and nodded.

"I'm going to check on your daughter and I think we can remove the steroid tube and heart monitor for now. She seems to be breathing alright for the time being, so I'm going to move her into Jenna's room for a few hours and than bring her back to the NICU. I would like them to get to know each other, Jenna hasn't even seen the baby yet and I would like for them to bond. We're going to see if Jenna can feed her, if she can start to phase out the feeding tube. She's a very beautiful little girl, you're very lucky. I'll see you again in a few minutes."

"My mom is in there," said Greg.

"I'll explain her that mom, dad and baby need some me time," said Minhi and he went in the NICU. Greg sighed and headed down the hall and walked down the hall to the other side of the ward until he found Jenna's room and took a deep breath, he wanted to ask her about what happened with her and Andy but he didn't want to upset her right now and he just wanted to spend time with Jenna and Katie without anymore drama. He would ask her later when the time was right. He walked into the recovery room and over to Jenna's bed. She was laying on her left side and was half awake, she looked up at him and gave him a tired smile.

"Hey." She sounded a little drugged and he pulled up a chair and took her hand.

"Hi, how you feeling?" he knew it was a lame question but Jenna just shrugged.

"Tired, sore, I hurt in places I didn't think it was possible to hurt. The next time we have kids, you're going to have them." Greg started laughing.

"You know that it's physical impossible for me to get pregnant, I don't have the hips to do it, I would tip over like a cow."

"They do it all the time in fanfiction…if Chase from House can get pregnant, you can too." Greg just gave her a look.

"You read fanfiction, you know that it's written by fourteen year olds fan girls who write about Harry Potter love triangles right." Jenna shrugged and sat up slowly.

"It was a slow day in January and Julia brought in some interesting fanfiction for us. I have never been the same again." She paused and looked at him seriously. "How's the baby…I heard her crying before I went up to the OR…Minhi told me what they had to do and…" she stopped talking and just buried her face in her hands and started crying. Greg pulled her into a hug and she buried her face in his shoulder.

"It's ok," said Greg playing with her hair.

"No it's not ok, you heard him. I may not be able to have anymore kids," Greg cut her off.

"He said it would be difficult, not impossible. I still love you, nothing will ever change that. Jen, you're it for me. I don't want anyone else but you, I'm surprised that you still want me around." She pulled away from him and started wiping her eyes.

"Why wouldn't I want you around, you're kind of it for me too." Greg shrugged.

"Because I'm a screw up, I let my work get in the way of us time and time again. I missed my own wedding because of my work; I missed seeing the birth of my first baby because of my work. You need me and I'm working it seems to be a common trend in this relationship, I really don't know how you put up with me sometimes." Jenna pulled him into a hug this time.

"It's love, love. You never did answer my question, how's our baby?" Greg went to say something when a nurse and Dr. Minhi walked in wheeling Katie's bed and she was still crying slightly.

"The steroids seemed to have worked and her lungs seem to be fine. We thought maybe mommy would like to hold her a bit, we have her un-tubed right now and her last tests came back normal, other than her being a little under weight she's good and she's very lucky little girl. I can possible see you being able to take her home in a week or two if she gets her weight up and she keeps being able to breathe on her own. Would you like to hold her?" Jenna just looked at him.

"You ask the dumbest questions sometimes Amar," He shrugged.

"I'm a doctor it's our job." He reached into the bed and pulled out a shrieking Katie, Greg was worried about how hard she was going at it, but than he realized that considering she wasn't able to breathe before that her crying this loud was a good thing.

"Do you want to hold her first?" asked Jenna. Greg shook his head.

"I got to see her first and you're the one that pushed her out, I think you should get the first hold." Minhi placed Katie in Jenna's arms and stepped back, she was still crying.

"A nurse will be in here shortly to help you with breastfeeding, we'll leave you three alone," said Minhi and he and the nurse stepped out and shut the door. Jenna looked down at Katie and kissed her forehead.

"Oh hi honey, don't cry." Greg thought Katie's reaction to him was surprising; her reaction to Jenna was amazing. She stopped crying the second Jenna started talking and she just stared at her with wide eyes.

"Wow, she really does know your voice," said Greg. Jenna grinned at him and looked back at Katie.

"It's because she heard it all the time for the past seven months…isn't that right baby," said Jenna and she kissed Katie's forehead. "So you're the one who's been doing all the kicking?" Katie just looked at Jenna and Greg had a feeling if she could talk that she would tell Jenna 'whatever.' Katie reached up with a free hand and started tugging on Jenna's hair. Greg reached over and took Katie's other hand and she gripped it hard.

"She has your eyes," said Jenna.

"She has your nose," said Greg and he leaned over and kissed Katie on the forehead and kissed Jenna.

"You know I thought passing my field exam was the greatest feeling ever, it doesn't even come close to how good I feel right now." Katie started to doze off again in Jenna's arms.

"I love her so much and she just got here," said Jenna and she started happy crying.

"Well that makes two of us," said Greg and he got on the bed with Jenna and Katie. "Marry me." Jenna looked over at him.

"What?"

"I know I asked you before and that you've already said yes to me once, but I screwed it up and I lost that chance. I'm asking you again to marry me, I know that I've screwed things up and I will probably keep screwing up because I'm me. But I love you, I love you more than anything in this life and I want to be here for you and Katie always. I want you marry me and let me be there for you both. Please Jen, say yes again." Jenna looked down at Katie and smiled at her.

"What do you think? Should we say yes to daddy a second time?" Katie started to wave one little fist in the air and started baby babbling at them. "I think that's a yes for her and a yes from me, I want to marry you." Greg leaned over carefully so he wouldn't crush Katie and kissed Jenna.

"One condition though," said Jenna and Greg felt something sink in his stomach. "You have to promise me on everything you hold dear that you will never let me delivery another baby with David Hodges there…someone thought he was the dad and I almost cried." Greg started laughing.

"I will never let that happen again and I promise that on everything I hold dear." He reached out and took her hand. "There I promised on you." Jenna put her head on his shoulder and the three of them sat there enjoying the moment.

Notes-I'm not a medical doctor, I have no MD experience whatsoever…everything I learned I learned from House, ER ,Scrubs and my own research about NICU…but it sounded good and medical like didn't it. Sorry for the delay in posting this, I plan to have maybe two more chapters after this though.

I had to poke fun at myself, fan-fiction and M-preg…because seriously guys would really tip over like cows because they don't have hips…I would pay someone to write that in to an M-preg. I couldn't help but joke about it and the stereotypes fan fic writers get. No I'm not a fourteen year old fan girl…I'm a twenty something fan girl which could be even worse.


	26. Home

Home

June 2007

Greg walked into the break room to get his coffee fix when Nick spotted him.

"Hey welcome back Greggo. I was wondering when you would get tired of diaper duty," joked Nick. Greg rolled his eyes and started fixing a pot of Blue Hawaiian; he had been on leave for about three weeks with Jenna and Katie.

"I'll take a dirty diaper any day over dumpster diving thank you very much," said Greg.

"So how's life outside the NICU?" asked Nick. Greg poured himself and Nick a cup of coffee and thought back to the last couple of weeks.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

The beeping of a machine sent both Greg and Jenna sitting bolt right up in their chairs and looking around waiting for a nurse or doctor to swoop in for Katie. Katie however was sleeping in her bed not five inches from them; the beeping was from a heart monitor attached to the baby in the crib across the room. Jenna looked at Greg and shook her head.

"I'll never get used to it, no matter what they say." She looked at her watch and sighed. "It's almost time for morning rounds; let's hope it's a good morning." Jenna reached into the bed and moved a wire off Katie's neck.

Katie had a set back on her second night in the hospital, she had stopped breathing again in her sleep and they had her put back on the respirator and steroid treatment, it turned out not to be apnea, it was an infection in her lungs and they had placed back in the NICU to be sure she was going to be alright once she left. The doctors had assured them that an infection was better than apnea, since it was caught early it wouldn't spread and could be treated with little to no issues, with apnea it would be a forever issue that would have to be watched closely until she was an adult. They were taking steps forward, she had taken her off the respirator three nights ago, but she was still attached to a breathing monitor just in case and she was almost finished with her antibiotics.

Jenna started playing with Katie's hair and she looked at Greg and gave him a small smile.

"You wanna shower first this morning, you look like hell." Greg gave her a small laugh.

"And you're Princess Diana with your hoodie and workout pants on. Do you remember who's visiting today is it my parents or your mom?" asked Greg.

They were only allowed a few visitors in the NICU and his parents and Jenna's mom had been taking turns visiting them. They would come in each day and would bring them a change of clothes or they would sit with Katie in case they wanted to eat or just go outside for fresh air.

The nurses and other doctors told them they could go home if they wanted and they would call them if there was a change in her condition; however Greg and Jenna were like most parents in the ward, you have to pry them away and even that may not work. They had learned how fast conditions could change, when Jenna and Greg returned to the NICU a baby that was slated to go home in two days started suffering from a blood infection that night and died the next day, the furthest away either one of them had been from this room in a week was when Nick and Catherine made both of them go with them to breakfast at a café down the street and that was for an hour and they went back to the hospital.

Before Jenna could answer Greg's question, the med student that had been assigned to them Kelly Downing came over and handed each of them a cup of coffee.

"Good morning how's Athena?" The doctors and nurses gave all the babies in the NICU tough guy nicknames; they said it made them fight even more. Kelly had dubbed Katie Athena to keep up a trend going on in the ward, they had an Ares in the crib next to them and a set of triplets across the room had been dubbed by another med student as Helen, Odysseus and Achilles.

"She woke up by herself for her feedings last night." That was another issue they were worried about, sometimes Katie would sleep through her feedings and Jenna would have to wake her up. She was gaining weight though and was off her feeding tube and when she was awake she seemed to be more alert and active. Kelly reached into the bed and woke Katie up, Katie looked at her and she started to fuss. Kelly just smiled at her and started taking off the breathing monitor and talking to Katie in a cheerful voice.

"I know, I'm you're favorite person in the whole wide world. I come in each morning, wake you up for a seven am poke and prod and if you're a good girl I'm not sticking you with something. I promise that this is going to be over soon and you'll never see me again and that will be a very happy day not only for you but for mommy and daddy too. Ok, let's take a listen," Kelly pulled out her stethoscope and listened to Katie's heartbeat.

"Good heartbeat, let's listen to your lungs." Kelly moved the scope and took another listen. "I'm going to order another chest x-ray to see what's there, but I think if she keeps up her own breathing today and tomorrow, her weight gain is good, I think our little Athena can go home," Kelly handed Katie to Jenna and Katie grabbed a fist full of hoodie and just stared at them with great big doe eyes. Jenna kissed her on the forehead and looked back to Kelly.

"How soon can the x-ray be done?" asked Jenna.

"We can do it after Katie gets breakfast and after you two have showered, because both of you look horrible. I've been here for hours and got called into three deliveries and I somehow look better than both of you." Greg just looked at her.

"Gee thanks, your concern for us is staggering." Kelly just shrugged.

"Someone has to make sure that mom and dad are taken care of." Kelly walked over to do her exam on another one of her patients and Jenna stood up with Katie.

"I'm going to go into the private room and feed her; you take first shower and see if the Breakfast Brigade is coming in this morning. Just think we have good news for them," said Jenna.

The Breakfast Brigade consisted of Nick, Catherine, Warrick, Mandy, Wendy, Archie and Hodges. They came in after shift ended and brought Greg and Jenna breakfast and they took turns seeing Katie in the NICU, they were only allowed two at a time and since they weren't family they could only see her for a few minutes. Greg got of his chair, bent down and gave Katie a kiss on the cheek.

"See you in a few," said Greg. He reached into a little cabinet that each parent had in the NICU and grabbed his clothes and his shower kit, took off his scrubs and headed out of the NICU and towards the lobby and the bathrooms. He reached the lobby and was about to head into the hallway that lead into the bathroom when someone called his name. He turned around and was surprised to see Grissom standing there holding a small white bear; he hadn't seen his boss since the night Sara had been kidnapped.

He had gone to see Sara before Katie's return to the NICU and neither she nor Grissom were there. According to what Catherine had told him later on that night, Sara had left the hospital against medical advice after being treated and Grissom had called Ecklie to ask for two weeks off for both of them and neither one had been heard from after Grissom called Ecklie and put Catherine in charge of the night shift and neither Grissom or Sara were picking up the phone. Greg couldn't help but feel a little let down by the two people who were his mentors and future godparents to his daughter, they hadn't been out here at all since Katie was born, in fact neither one had seen her yet. Greg knew that Sara had gone through a horrible experience, but was it to much to ask for a phone call or a hello from them, considering what the team went through to find her.

"Little early don't you think?" asked Greg and Grissom shrugged.

"I heard that visiting hours started at eight, I figured that I would come in and just wait," said Grissom. "How are you?" Greg felt that this was a really dumb question considering where he was.

"I'm tried; I haven't slept in a real bed, had a real meal, or taken a good hot shower in a week. I'm almost out of leave time and," Grissom cut him off.

"No you're not; I gave you four weeks of my leave time. You can give any co-worker leave time if you have over fifteen weeks of it saved. Trust me; I have over fifteen weeks of it saved even after taking sabbatical. Take as much time as you need to get things settled with Katie and Jenna."

"Thank you…how's Sara?" asked Greg. Grissom looked around the lobby and than back at Greg.

"She wants to go back to work; you can imagine how well it went over when Ecklie and I both told her no that she had to wait a few more weeks." Greg sighed and decided to tell Grissom what he really thought and what the team had been saying.

"I just…it was really shitty not just to me but to the whole team the way you guys went into hiding and haven't seen anyone," said Greg. "We were all freaked out about what happened to Sara and I already knew you guys were together, but to the rest of the team it was a bombshell and you just dropped it on them and than you don't talk to anyone for a week and it was unfair to everyone who was out there looking for her."

"Sara and I…we've never been good at dealing with people and we realize our actions were very selfish to those around us and we would like to start apologizing to everyone, we just, we needed some time alone to figure out what to do next and we still don't know what to do but hiding wasn't the answer. We figured if we were going to start apologizing to people that you and Jenna should be at the top of the list."

Greg nodded, he was still slightly peeved off at Grissom, but at least he was trying to make an effort.

"I was getting ready to take a shower, but Jenna's feeding Katie in the NICU. Hold on a second." Greg walked over to nurse at the front desk and asked her if it was okay for Grissom to be in the NICU."

"Is he family?" she asked.

"Yes," Greg lied, the nurse knew it, but she decided to wave the fifteen minute rule.

"I'll take him to the NICU and explain the rules," she got up and gestured to Grissom. "This way please." Grissom went to follow the nurse he paused and looked at Greg.

"You really look horrible; I never thought I would see you without product in your hair or five o'clock shadow," said Grissom.

"You know if freaks people out when you try to joke like that."

"Oh I wasn't joking." He turned and followed the nurse down the hall. Greg shook his head and went into the bathroom.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"And than when the Prince and Cinderella went past the tree, two white doves called out: There they go, there they go! No blood on her shoe; the shoe's not to small, the right bride is she after all," said Jenna. She had taken Katie into one of the private rooms that was attached to the main NICU room to feed Katie.

Considering everything that went on in the NICU, you think a little thing like breastfeeding in the open wouldn't be an issue, but some moms like Jenna wanted a little privacy and alone time and there were several rooms that allowed them to have some alone time.

She had started telling Katie the stories her own grandmother used to tell her from Grimm's fairy tales during feeding time. The doctors encouraged her and Greg to talk with Katie when she was awake so she would be interested in staying awake longer and get used to her parents. She and Greg decided that story telling was the best way to keep the baby interested. She wondered if the baby had any understand of what Jenna was telling her, but she seemed to like the sound of Jenna talking to her. Right now the little girl just looked up her with her great big eyes, one hand had a fist full of her own hair and her other hand was pulling on a loose strand of Jenna's own hair.

"I promise not to drop you so you can ease up on the hair pulling," Jenna pulled the baby away from her breast and pulled her shirt back down. "Sorry pumpkin you cleaned me out for right now," said Jenna when she noticed the baby getting ready to pout.

She put Katie on her shoulder and started trying to burp her. She felt Katie get an even firmer hold on her hair and she just buried her little head into small towel Jenna was using. Jenna smiled and started rubbing the baby's back; she had been worried that she and Katie wouldn't bond after being separated right after Katie was born, but Katie seemed to take her and Greg just fine.

"I love you very much sweetheart and I can't wait to take you home. Your Nana and Papa Sanders and your Nana Clarissa are going to spoil you rotten and all your adopted aunts and uncles can't wait till you're home. You're one very lucky little girl to have so many people love you so much." The lab rats and Jenna's own employees had pretty much adopted the little girl and she had heard Archie and Mandy refer to themselves has Uncle Archie and Auntie Mandy. She felt Katie let out a loud burp right in Jenna's ear.

"Well thank you very much; it's nice to know you love me too." Someone knocked on the door and a nurse poked her head in.

"Miss Bianchi, you have a visitor."

"Ok, I'll be out in a second." The nurse nodded and walked back out. Jenna got one more burp out of Katie and went back into the main NICU room. A man was standing by Katie's crib with his back to her. Jenna couldn't tell who it was from the back and she tensed up. No one could get in the without a nurse letting them in or getting approval from a parent.

_Maybe this is Greg's uncle from California,_ thought Jenna and she walked over to crib.

"Excuse me," said Jenna. The man turned around and Jenna was surprised to see Grissom there holding a plastic wrapped stuffed animal. "Hi."

"Hello Jenna, I'm going to assume that is Katie Sanders. Hi there," said Grissom reaching out and touching the baby's hand. Katie wrinkled her forehead and looked over at him.

"It's alright, he doesn't bite." Katie unwrinkled her forehead and took Grissom's finger.

"She's very pretty, congratulations." Jenna put Katie back in her crib and sat down in her chair, Grissom sat down and handed Jenna the bear.

"It's from Sara…do they wrap everything from outside here in plastic?" asked Grissom.

"It's a rule, keeps the germs away. I think it's going to freak her out to go home and touch something that is fuzzy. This is really sweet, where is Sara?"

"She's in a meeting with HR to discuss our relationship, she gets to talk with Ecklie sometime in the near future." Grissom looked a bit uncomfortable and his cell phone started going off. He eyed it and turned it off. "Speaking of Ecklie I think he's stalking me…he calls at least twice a day, I'm waiting for him to stop by our house."

"I was shocked when he came in last week and gave Greg the paper work for family medical leave and he got us a gift card to Target."

"It's nice to see the politician in him is still alive." Jenna shook her head and went to say something when Kelly and the head doctor of the NICU Dr. Mill came over to them.

"Athena is set up for an eleven am x-ray and we would like to treat her for another seven days on antibiotics, unless you give us permission to do a spinal tap. If her fluid is clear, means the infection is done and she can go home sooner," said Mill. Jenna bit her lip and thought

"God I know you guys stick babies all day long…" Greg finished with his shower walked in on the middle of the conversation.

"What is she being stuck with now?"

"We can either do a spinal tap to see if the infection is gone or we treat another seven days with meds," said Kelly. Greg looked down at Jenna.

"What do think?"

"The tap will let her get sent home sooner?" Kelly nodded. "Than do it, I wanna take her home." Mill smiled at them

"Great, Kelly can you get the tap set up for Athena." Greg's jaw drop, he liked Kelly but the thought of a med student sticking something in his daughter's spine freaked him out.

"I would feel better if you did the tap, Dr. Mill." Mill nodded.

"Ok, I'll be back after rounds." The two doctors went to leave and Jenna touched Greg's sleeve.

"I want Kelly to do it, Katie likes her."

"Jen…"

"You were a student once upon a time; everyone has to learn sooner or later."

"Ok, Kelly can do the tap." Mill and Kelly looked at each other.

"Alright, Kelly go set the tap up," Mill walked away and Kelly went across the room to set up what was needed. Grissom looked at both of them.

"Why were they calling her Athena?"

"It's a nickname all the babies in NICU get one. We had a Zeus in here a few days ago," said Greg. Grissom gave a small smile.

"Athena, the goddess of the heroic endeavor, I imagine being here is a heroic endeavor."

"One that I hope is almost over, I just want to take her home," said Jenna.

"Ok, who's up for poke and prod round two?" asked Kelly. Greg reached into the bed and took Katie out.

"Not really up for it, but if it gets her home sooner…" said Greg. The group went over to a table and Greg handed Katie over to Kelly. Kelly undressed the baby and laid her down.

"Ok, Mom can you get her to lie on her side and hold her there?" Jenna moved the baby to her side and held her there Greg walked around to see what Kelly was doing. Kelly draped a sheet over Katie's lower half and pulled out a needle and swabbed a bit of Katie's back.

"Ok just hold her head and her hip steady. And this will all be over with in just a second." Kelly stuck the needle in Katie's back and started withdrawing fluid from her.

"I'm surprised that you're this good with this crowd watching," said Jenna. Kelly smiled.

"You should see how good I am when I not post call." Greg's jaw dropped.

"You've been working over twenty four hours and I let you put a needle in my daughter's back."

"It's only been thirty hours and trust me I worked more hours than that when I was a trauma nurse," said Kelly.

"You were a trauma nurse?" asked Greg.

"Over seven years, I just decided that it I was going to work like a doctor, I may as well earn the degree and pay of one. And it is crystal clear," said Kelly holding up a tube of fluid. Katie started crying and Kelly put a Band-Aid on Katie's back.

"It's over now baby, you want your daddy. Here he is," Kelly handed him Katie and she looked at him like he was the meanest person in the world and Greg just hugged her and she just buried her head in his shoulder.

"I know I'm a mean daddy letting them poke you like that." Kelly labeled the tube and handed it to a tech.

"We're going to run it to see if there is anything in it, but since it came back clear and if her chest x-ray comes out alright, we can look at filing out her discharge papers. I'll see you in a couple hours," Kelly got up to get her next assignment and Jenna looked at Greg who was rubbing Katie's back and shushing her. Katie had her thumb in her mouth and had a fist full of his shirt in her other hand.

"You're going to spoil her rotten, she's barely two weeks old and she has you wrapped around her finger."

"Trust me, he's fallen for less," said Grissom. Greg made a face at both of them.

"Don't listen to them sweetie. Just wait till we get you home, I'll spoil you even more than."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"We're still trying to get some things settled. My parents left two days ago and now Frankie, Karen and co are coming in to town for their summer vacation…I was lucky that I got my parents to leave, I seriously think they were going to move in with us," said Greg and Nick started to laugh.

"I told you, first time grandparents would drive you crazy," said Nick. Greg handed him a cup of coffee and sat down.

"So how are you adjusting to parenthood?" asked Nick.

"I'm adjusting," said Greg.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"You know I have a B.S in Chemistry, I graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and I'm a great CSI. Yet, getting a car seat into a standard four door import from China stumps me," said Greg. Jenna started laughing at him and she looked down at Katie whose eyes seemed to be running a marathon looking around. She brushed some hair off the baby's forehead, it had been three days since the chest x-ray and all of Katie's tests had come back with good news and she was waking up on her own and breathing just fine and they were given the okay to take her home. Greg's parents had dropped off the car seat last night and now Greg was struggling trying to figure out how to get it in properly. Jenna tapped Greg on the shoulder.

"Here let me, take Katie," said Jenna. She handed him the baby and crawled into the backseat and started buckling the car seat in.

"You be surprised how many times I had to help Ofilia and Frankie do this. Ok, through the tunnel and around the bend," muttered Jenna winding the lap belt through the car seat and buckled in and shook the seat to make sure it didn't move and than she got back out. "Ok, daddy would you like to buckle your little girl in?" Greg got back into the car and started buckling Katie in who couldn't seem to stop looking around, her little eyes seem to be going a mile a minute. He smiled at her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I'm gonna sit in the back with her ok," said Jenna and she got in the back seat. Greg shut the door and went to the driver's side and got in. He put the car into drive and they left the hospital.

"Wave bye bye to the hospital and to the tubes and machines, and to seven am poke and prods," said Jenna taking Katie's little hand and having it wave bye. Greg looked into the rearview mirror and grinned at the sight of Jenna playing and baby talking with Katie.

"Now when you get home, you get to meet your big brother Gabriel. He's big and fat and fuzzy. And whatever you don't touch his catnip fish or his tail it will cause a lot of trouble if you do. And I think you have a big sister, she's green and she talks a lot, Daddy calls her Cricky. You are a very lucky little girl to have such a blended family." Greg was driving the speed limit, something that tended to piss off the regular Vegas driver off and they blew around Greg, honking their horns and glaring at him. He tensed up and gripped the wheel tighter, he knew people drove like morons but it seemed more annoying today and he wished he could call Brass and have him get some uniforms out here to set up a speed trap. Jenna looked at Greg and gave him a smile.

"Relax sweetie, we're almost home and she's fine…oh she's trying to make a spit bubble, I never thought spit bubbles would make me so happy," said Jenna. Greg pulled into the apartment complex and parked. Jenna unbuckled herself and got Katie out of her car seat and Greg got the passenger door open.

"Let's just get her inside, it's hotter than hell out here. We'll get the suitcases later," said Greg he wrapped an arm around Jenna and they headed upstairs. Katie yawned at them and her eyes were drooping. "You and Gabriel are going to get along just fine, you both sleep for hours on end."

"Oh she'll get out of that soon and you'll be sorry," said Jenna. Greg went to unlock the door when his father opened for him.

"Welcome home." His father gave him a hug and he gave Jenna a kiss on the check and he looked down at Katie and smiled at her. "Hello sweetness." Greg's mother elbowed him.

"Let them in," Noah got out of the doorway and let them in and Kari started hugging them and baby talking to Katie, Clarissa came out of the kitchen and hugged both of them.

"Welcome home, dinner is almost ready."

"Yeah food that hasn't been reheated and served on a meat tray," said Jenna.

"Oh come on, meatloaf Monday that ended up being cheeseburger Tuesday was good for me," joked Greg. Jenna went to say something when Katie started rubbing her face into Jenna's shirt and fussing.

"Ok, dinner for you first than me. If you guys want to eat without me go ahead. Come on sweetie; let's go see mommy's room."

"Miele, why don't you go and see the baby's room," said Clarissa.

"I, we didn't finish it yet," said Jenna looking at Greg who was grinning at her. "What did you do?" He simply shrugged.

"You had everything you wanted to buy bookmarked on the computer. The grandparents just took the gift cards bought it and set it up for you." Greg smiled and led Jenna down the hall and opened the door that lead to the spare bedroom. Jenna grinned and looked around the baby's room. The grandparents had bought a dark brown crib and had it made with the sheets that Nick had bought them a few months back and a green and white knit blanket hung off the side of the crib

"Nana Olaf made it, she's sorry that she and Papa couldn't travel out here this month. They plan on being here for Katie's christening" said Kari.

"It's alright, I like the blanket, I can't knit to save my life," said Jenna taking in the rest of the room. A rocking chair was placed next to the window and the changing table. They had gotten a little stand in the room that had a lamp and a framed picture of her, Greg and Katie from about a week ago at the hospital.

"It's really nice, thank you," said Jenna. Katie started to cry and Jenna shook her head. "Ok I get the hint, um can I get a moment?" asked Jenna.

"We're sorry principessa for holding up your dinner. We'll save you a plate," said Clarissa and she and the other grandparents left the room. Greg shut the door and closed the blinds while Jenna sat down with Katie and got her ready to nurse.

"So do you like it?" asked Greg. Jenna smiled at him and started feeding Katie.

"Yeah, it's really…ow go easy on those they aren't going anywhere. She's your kid alright," teased Jenna. Katie had latched on to Jenna and she had one hand in her hair and her other hand was holding on the Jenna. Greg sat down on the floor and he reached up and started rubbing Katie's back and her head.

"I never thought me and my daughter would share a common of love for boobs, think she'll stay interested in those?" asked Greg. Jenna nudged him with a foot.

"Only till she's able to eat solid food, than she won't care for them at all, I hope you two find something else to share interest in." Greg and Jenna sat there quite while Katie was being feed and Greg didn't speak up again until Jenna was finished feeding Katie and Katie was dozing off again and Jenna handed her to Greg.

"Do you want to get her into some pj's and we can put her to bed," said Jenna. Greg took the baby and looked at her and felt hopeless lost, the nurses in the NICU had done the dressing and changing because of everything she had been hooked up to. They had given him a mini crash course in what to do when he came home, now he was drawing a blank.

"She's so tiny," muttered Greg. Jenna looked up at him and despite the fact that Greg looked scared out of his mind she couldn't love him anymore. She got out of the rocking chair, hugged him carefully and took Katie from him.

"Ok, let's do this together than."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Around two am Katie woke them both of them with crying. It scared the hell out of Greg and he almost fell out of bed. Jenna groaned and got out of bed and staggered down the hall to Katie's room. Greg fell back on the bed and part of him really wanted to go back to sleep, he hadn't slept well in almost two weeks. The other part of him knew he should get up and help Jenna out, he had slept through Katie's midnight feeding, he realized it when he felt Jenna coming back to bed and she curled up next to him. He sighed and got up and headed down the hall. Jenna was sitting in the rocking chair and was rocking Katie and stroking the baby's head. She looked up at Greg and gave him a sleepy smile.

"She just needed a change and a cuddle." Jenna got up and put the baby back in the crib and gave her a pacifier to suck on and she tucked the baby in. Greg came up and hugged her.

"I'm sorry that I suck at this being a parent thing." Jenna put her head on his shoulder.

"You don't suck; you're just new at it. I'll be back to bed in a minute, she didn't want to eat but my body is saying it's time to feed her." Greg gave her a hug and headed back to bed, he dozed off and woke back up when Jenna got back into bed and wrapped an arm around him. He took her hand in his and dozed off for what felt like a few minutes when he heard Katie crying again. He looked at the clock and it was close to four am, he rolled over to wake Jenna up and stopped himself.

_You're not going to get better at this dad thing unless you start trying. _Greg sighed, got out of bed and headed down the hall to Katie's room. She had spit out her pacifier and was started to go red in the face from crying so hard. He reached into the crib and picked her up.

"Hey, hey, shush, shush…what's the issue here?" She wasn't wet and she didn't smell like she needed to be changed. "Hey you want breakfast…come on kjæreste let's get some breakfast," Greg held her so her head could rest on shoulder and he headed into the kitchen. Gabriel woke up and eyed them like they were crazy from his bed on the sofa. Greg grabbed a bottle from the fridge and put in the microwave and he rubbed Katie's back while they waited.

The crying was now a series of whimpers and she had buried her face in his shoulder. The microwave beeped and he took the bottle out and checked the temperature and he almost forgot to grab a dish towel before heading into the living room. He sat down next to Gabriel and started to give Katie her bottle; she wrinkled her forehead but took the bottle. Greg shook his head, Katie had either been on a tube or breastfed, and this was technically her first bottle.

"I know it's not what you're used to, daddy is trying though. So you think you can cut me a little slack?" Katie downed half the bottle before he realized it and he remembered that she was to be burped after so many ounces. He took the bottle away from her and she gave him that puppy dog look.

"Hey I don't make the rules here," he put her on his shoulder and started patting her back. "If I'm doing this wrong you'll let me know right?" He looked at Katie and her eye lids were getting heavy and starting to drop. She let out a little burp and Greg kept rubbing her back. He started toying with her hair and he felt her little hand opening and closing on his shoulder and after a few minutes that stopped and he noticed that she was sound asleep.

Gabriel looked at him and he jumped on to the back of the sofa and started to walk towards Katie. His mom and Nana and Papa Olaf were worried about them keeping the cat with a baby in the house especially with all the wives' tales Nana Olaf had heard about cats and babies, Greg assured them that the cat and baby would learn to co-exist and the cat would not hurt the baby. Greg repositioned himself on the sofa so that he was propped up and Katie was laying on his chest.

"If you want to see her fuzz ball get down here." Gabriel walked along the back of the sofa and onto the arm where Greg was and rubbed on him. "Yeah I missed you too," he reached one arm up and started petting the cat. Gabriel got on his shoulder and just stared at Katie but didn't try to get any closer to her. Greg looked back down at Katie and gave a small smile; he didn't think it was possible to love another person this much. He felt Gabriel being taken off him and he felt Jenna wrapping her arms around his shoulders and she started to rub Katie's head.

"Told you that you didn't suck, welcome home daddy."

Notes-Sorry for the long delay, I've been busy with work and school and I got really stuck trying to write this chapter and restarted several times, so I hope that people like it.


	27. Decisions

Decisions

June 2007

_Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes  
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses  
And what's with all the carrots  
What do they need such good eyesight for anyways?  
Bunnies!  
Bunnies!  
It must be bunnies!_

Jenna was singing to Katie while she got her dressed for the day in a little bodysuit with bunnies on it. Katie looked at Jenna and just cooed at her and opened and closed her little hands.

"Hey there little miss sunshine, you're all dressed and clean now." Jenna picked her up and took her into the living room. Katie grabbed at Jenna's hair and held on to it tight. "Oh honey really we've talked about pulling on mommy's hair…I wish your daddy had long hair again so you could pull on his hair too." Jenna untangled her hair from Katie's fist and Katie let out something like a grunt. Jenna held Katie out and gave her a smile.

"Oh what is it, you wanna play with mommy…you wanna play with me?" Jenna got down on the floor and put Katie on back and picked up a pair of toy keys left on the floor and started to dangle them in front of her.

"Look what I got…look what I got…you want them…you want the keys? Does Katie want the keys?" Jenna couldn't help but smile at the look on Katie's face, her little eyes got wide and she followed the keys with her eyes. Jenna laughed at the baby and let her grab the keys and Katie let out a little coo and held on to the keys for dear life. "Are you happy now?" Katie just looked at her and made some sort of noise, Jenna picked her up and put her back on her chest and looked at the baby.

She was getting close to four weeks old and while she was still very tiny, Dr. Minhi said that she was developing alright with her motor and mental skills. Katie picked her head up and just stared at Jenna and she started making little noises at her.

"What is it Katie-monster?" Jenna sat up so her legs and knees would support Katie and she started making noises back at the baby. Katie made a face at her and Jenna stuck her tongue out at her.

"Oh you are just too cute for your own good Katie-Monster, you know what you get to do today? You get to go with mom and we'll see Auntie Sara today,"

Katie made another face at her and Jenna started to sing to her and she knew that Greg would probably kill her if he knew what she was singing to Katie during the day. She had a feeling that Avenue Q despite being a Tony Award winning musical, wasn't the greatest thing to introduce to a newborn

_There is life outside your apartment.  
I know it's hard to conceive.  
But there's life outside your apartment.  
And you're only gonna see it if you leave._

There is cool shit to do,  
But it can't come to you,

_There is life outside your apartment.  
But you gotta open the door_!

Katie let out a little happy noise and Jenna gave her a hug.

"Oh I love you too Katie-Monster, you wanna go see the life outside the apartment? Come on, Auntie Sara is probably waiting for us." Jenna stood up and put the baby on her shoulder and grabbed the diaper bag/purse off the sofa and put it on her free shoulder. She locked the apartment and took Katie down to the car and got the baby into the car seat. God it was hot and it was still early summer, she was a little worried about how hot it would get in late summer and how the kitchen staff would cope with the heat. She got in the driver's seat and turned on the air and put in a cd for them to listen to. Jenna heard Katie in the back seat making noises and she laughed.

She started watching the street signs for the right turn off, she had never been to Sara and Grissom's place and was hoping not to get lost with Katie. She was a little surprised that Sara had asked her to come and visit her last week when she and Grissom came over to see them.

……………………………………………………………………………………………… 

Jenna was feeding Katie and Greg was making dinner when someone knocked on the door.

"Greg can you get the door?" Jenna pulled Katie away from her and started to button her top. Greg turned off the stove top and went into the living room and opened the door and was surprised to see who was standing in the door way, Sara and Grissom.

"Hey, come in," said Greg. They walked in and Greg closed the door.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced, we just," started Grissom and Sara cut him off by giving Greg a one armed hug.

"I wanted to see you guys, I miss people," said Sara. Greg hugged her back.

"What Hank the dog not entertaining enough?" asked Greg. Sara shrugged and looked over at Jenna on the sofa with Katie.

"I wanted to see my goddaughter."

"She dozing…it's one of her favorite activities," said Jenna.

"If this is a bad time we can come back later," said Grissom.

"Oh no…we were just about to have dinner. Greg made it so I can't say how it's going to taste," said Jenna. Greg made a face at her.

"I haven't brunt anything so there!"

"He's very good at making coffee," said Grissom. "When are you coming back to work? I miss the Blue Hawaiian."

"I come back next week, Miss I own my job has three more weeks of stay at home time." Jenna shrugged.

"I've been working from home so it's not like I'm not working. So suck on that," said Jenna. Greg shrugged.

"I made stir fry…it has chicken in it," said Greg.

"I'll pick it out," said Sara.

"I'll take her chicken," said Grissom. Greg went back into the kitchen to get the dinner and Grissom went to help him and Sara grinned.

"If I had know breaking my arm would get me waited on hand and foot I would have done it ages ago."

"So how are you?" asked Jenna Sara sat down next to her and looked at the baby.

I'm good, um listen…I'm sorry that I didn't come and see you and Greg and Katie when you were in the hospital. I just, I'm sorry that Greg wasn't there for you when you went into labor." Jenna just looked at Sara

"Sara did you plan to get kidnapped and placed under a car by a crazy person in the middle of nowhere?" asked Jenna.

"No but…" started Sara and Jenna cut her off.

"It wasn't your fault and it wasn't Grissom's fault," said Jenna, Katie woke up and she started to fuss. Sara looked Katie and gave a small smile.

"I'm sorry I woke you up," said Sara. Jenna hugged the baby and started calming her down

"It's alright Katie-monster, go back to sleep." Sara looked at Katie and gave a small smile.

"She a very pretty baby…can I hold her?"

"Sure, we'll use your good arm to prop her head up." Jenna handed Katie over to Sara carefully and they used Sara's good arm to hold the baby's head up and Katie looked at Sara and made a noise at her.

"Well hello there, you are a lively one. She's adorable, congratulations. So what have you been up too?"

"Feeding Katie, playing with Katie, doing paperwork with Katie and my favorite activity of all watching TV I missed while I was working nights with Katie. We're watching Buffy right now; she seems to like the music." Sara looked at the TV and made a face.

"Why is singing while making out with her girlfriend?"

"Oh this is the musical episode, a demon with the power to make everyone sing comes to town…it's the noise really that she's into."

"And you?"

"Oh James Marsters hands down. He's the only man I would every leave Greg for." Sara started laughing and handed Katie back to Jenna. The two men brought in dinner and Jenna put Katie on the floor with her little jungle gym so she could eat dinner. The conversation was limited and it mostly was about Katie, the couples hadn't been doing much lately since they were stuck at home. Sara yawned and looked at Greg.

"Not bad for someone who's main skill is making coffee. We should go home…someone looks bored," She motioned to Katie on the floor who seem to losing her interest in the toys on the floor. Jenna picked Katie up off the floor and she grabbed a fist full of Jenna's hair and she rubbed her face in Jenna's shoulder.

"Yeah it's getting close to sleepy time for her. Thanks for stopping by," said Jenna.

"If you and Katie get bored you can come and see me during the day, I don't get to go back for another two weeks. Gil can you write down our address?" asked Sara. Greg handed Grissom a pad of paper and a pen. Grissom wrote down the address and handed it to Jenna.

"Did she like the bear once it was unwrapped?" asked Grissom.

"It's in her crib next to the piggy that Catherine got her and she loves it." He nodded and turned to leave.

"I had never seen anyone so indecisive about buying a stuffed toy for a baby until him," said Sara.

"He said it was from you," said Greg.

"I lied," said Grissom and he left. Sara started laughing.

"He's a big softie about babies, I'll see you later," said Sara and she left. Greg shut and locked the door. Katie was whining into her shirt and Jenna looked at Greg and shrugged.

"The bug guy likes babies, it's cute," said Jenna and she went to Katie into some pj's. Greg followed her down the hall and into the baby's room and he handed Jenna a pair of footie pj's that Nana Olaf made for Katie.

"He's always had a soft spot for babies, he freaked out on me once when there was this case involving a baby and my lab was backlogged. He took all my swabs and cart and pushed it in to the hall and yelled that his case was the only one I was working till further notice. It sacred the piss out of me, more so than usual," said Greg. Jenna let him get Katie into her pj's and looked at Jenna.

"Can I rock her tonight, please?" he gave her puppy eyes and she gave him a kiss.

"Yes, rock the baby to sleep. I'll clean up the mess you made in the kitchen." He sat down with Katie and she looked up at him with big doe eyes and she was fiddling with her hair again, he reached over to the table and gave Katie her pacifier to suck on.

"Hey…I'm gonna miss you when I go back to work. You promise to be good for mommy when I go?" Katie just grabbed a fist full of his shirt and she let out a little sigh and started to doze. She was out like a light a few minutes later and Greg put her in the crib and headed out to the kitchen, Jenna was putting dishes in the dishwasher and scrubbing down the counters. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and started kissing her neck.

"It's not fair to do that to me when we can't for another couple of weeks," whined Jenna.

"It's still fun to do…she's sleeping. I don't want to go back to work, tell them I'm sick." Jenna laughed.

"You wanna quit and be Mr. Mom you can, it will just mean more hours I'll have to work and less time you'll have with me and less time I'll have with Katie. You can cook and clean and do the wash and…"

"I just wanted to do the fun stuff with Katie…I wasn't signing up for everything else. I couldn't quit, I like my job but I was thinking about maybe taking some more time off later on for a side project of mine."

"What side project?"

"A book I want to write."

"I heard that you couldn't spell fountain and you want to write a book."

"That's what editors are for anyway, besides you can you proof it for me, maybe even help me with the research."

"What's the book going to be about?"

"The history of Las Vegas and the stories that never made the papers with the Vegas mob, I've been kicking it around for awhile and I was thinking that if I did do it, I could take the advance and maybe use it for a down payment for that house thing we've been talking about and maybe take an extended break spend some more time with you and Katie while I write the book."

"I have a story that never made the papers involving a Vegas mobster," said Jenna. She turned around and enjoyed the look on Greg's face.

"Whoa what, you have to tell me."

"August 10th 1976, I was a little over a year old and I was sick but we didn't have money for a sitter, so my mom took me to work with her and she put me in a playpen in the corner of the front of the bakery where my grandmother was working. Mickey Dunn came in that day; he wanted some muffins or something. He and his goons were messing around and Mickey Dunn took me out of my playpen and started playing with me. My mom was freaked and my grandmother warned him I was sick and shouldn't be played with, he didn't listen and I threw up on him two seconds later."

"You threw up on Mickey Dunn!"

"Oh he was pissed, he started yelling and my grandmother, cool as a cucumber comes over and takes me from and hands Mickey her apron and goes 'told you so' and than she leaned down and whispered something in his ear and than she said, "See the great Mickey Dunn doesn't know everything, especially when it comes to babies, maybe now he'll learn to respect his elders and betters, pity it was a baby who had to teach him." Mickey just looks at her, covered in baby vomit and he starts laughing. He told my grandmother I had moxy and paid triple what the muffins were worth. He disappeared the next day." Greg looked at her and grinned.

"You threw up on Mickey Dunn and he told your grandmother you had moxy…wow that is defiantly going in the book."

"You ready to go back to work next week?" asked Jenna.

"Sort of, I'll miss you and Katie, but…"

"You miss work, I know. I miss it a little too." Jenna paused and recollected her thoughts. "I'm giving up the kitchen to Ofilia." Greg looked at her.

"Jen we talked about this, you don't have to. We can put Katie in daycare and I'll pick her up when I get off shift and I'll bring her back to you when I go into work."

They had been debating for awhile about what to do with Katie once they went back to work. Greg had been for Jenna taking Katie to work with her, but once she told him that she would be in the office and that she was going to stop baking until Katie was old enough for daycare or school he felt a little bad that Jenna was going to give up doing what she really loved, he felt a little selfish that he wasn't going to have to alter his career. He had thought about switching to Days and when he brought it up to Jenna she told him no, he hated Ecklie and besides if he could get off shift on time he could spend days with Katie and she could handle nights.

"I'm not ready to leave her with strangers yet Greg. Besides, it will give me a chance to do more design work and maybe bring in some more business. It's alright; I want to, she's worth giving up my kitchen. Besides it's only for a little while." Greg hugged her and gave her a kiss.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

……………………………………………………………………………………………… 

Jenna knocked the door and both she and Katie were almost scared out of their wits by the sound of a barking dog. Jenna felt Katie flinch and grab on tight to her shirt.

"Oh its ok baby, he's not gonna hurt you."

"Hank, really get down, down boy," Sara was trying to hold back a massive boxer with her good arm and open the door with her bad one. She got the door open and gave Jenna an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry; he's a really big baby deep down. Isn't that right?" Sara started petting the dog and he just rolled over and waited for a belly rub.

"Wow, now if only we can get guys to be that whipped life would be great." Sara laughed.

"I made some coffee."

"Coffee is always a plus." Hank looked up at Jenna and Katie and he started to sniff Jenna. "Yeah I have cat is that ok with you?" Hank started to head butt her hand and whine. Jenna gave him a pet behind the ears and the boxer licked her hand and walked off. Sara shook her head.

"Sorry about that, he's really affectionate. I can hold her while you wash your hands." Jenna handed Katie off to Sara and she used her good arm to carry the baby over her shoulder into the kitchen where Jenna washed her hands. Hank followed them and whined at Sara.

"It's not a toy you can't play with her. Just because she about the same size as your chewy bear doesn't make her a plaything." Hank's tail dropped and he went into the corner and flopped down. Jenna took Katie back from Sara and shook her head.

"God I almost feel sorry for the puppy." Jenna sat down with Katie in her lap and Sara got them coffee while she gave Katie a bottle.

"He's almost a year old; Gil got him as a birthday present. He was talking about getting a dog so he would have a reason to take breaks when he was working from home. So one morning when we were going to get breakfast and we saw a sign that this guy had puppies for sale and Gil pulls over and says that his curiosity needs to see these puppies, Hank was the only one left and he just walked over to him and he let Gil pet him. That night he was at PetSmart and he blew close to a hundred dollars on dog stuff and books about dogs."

"I think Greg bought out the Barns and Nobles section on parenting when I told him I was expecting."

"I tried to find a book about god parenting after Greg asked me to be a god mother," said Sara.

"Book nerds," said Jenna joking while sipping her coffee. "So did you get cleared to go back to work next week?"

"Yeah, I had to talk with Ecklie about 'my relationship' and how it violated department policy, blah, blah, blah. It was the most drawn out, boring lecture I have ever gotten in my adult life. I lost nearly two hours of my life listening to that smug ass ask me questions about my relationship and sex life. I think I almost made him choke when I told him we got together on a Sunday two years ago." Jenna started to laugh and went to burp Katie.

"I would have paid to see the look on his face."

"Oh it was priceless let me assure you and he was livid when he couldn't reach Grissom. I pity the man when Ecklie does get to him."

"I'm sure Grissom can handle it, he's dealt with worse right?"

"Oh don't get me started on when Ecklie broke the team up," said Sara. Katie let out a burp and Jenna felt the baby doze off. The two women were quite and Sara spoke up again.

"So what are you going to do with Katie when you go back to work?" asked Sara.

"Oh she's coming with me; I'm going to give up the kitchen work for awhile, I just don't think having her around hot stoves would fly with CPS. I plan on spending more time in the office so she can be with me. Unless they start letting Greg take her to crime scenes in a Snugli."

"It's nice to know I'm not the only one who is making a career change. I'm moving to swing shift when I go back."

"How come?" asked Jenna.

"Members of the same forensics team can't be in a relationship…by moving to swing we can stay in the relationship. Grissom offered to move to swing but I couldn't do that to the team. Besides I need a change, I forgot how great sunshine was for the skin until I went for my little hike." Sara looked at Katie and gave a small smile. "At least we're giving up what we love for someone we love."

"She's the only one I would give it up for." Jenna held up her coffee mug in mock toast. "To those we love." Sara took her mug and raised it to Jenna.

"To those we love."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna went home with Katie a little bit later and Jenna turned on the Avenue Q soundtrack and started playing and singing to Katie in a high pitched voice and Katie gave Jenna something that looked like a smile.

_I coming to this country  
For opportunities.  
Tried to work in  
Korean deli  
But I am Japanese.  
But with hard work  
I earn two Master's Degrees  
In social work!  
And now I a therapist!  
But I have no clients  
And I have an  
Unemployed fiancée'!  
And we have lots  
Of bills to pay!  
It suck to be me!  
It suck to be me!_

Jenna's cell phone went off and she reached over to the coffee table and answered it.

"Hello?"

"What is that in the background" asked Greg.

"Nothing," said Jenna turning the CD player down, Greg didn't need to know that her and Katie were listening to Avenue Q.

"Why do I think you're lying to me?"

"Yeah, I'm renting out the apartment to an adult film company for the afternoon. You should see the boobs on these twins; I swear they could feed like four kids at the same time."

"Why do you tell about things I can't have?"

"What's with the twenty questions, you go back to work and you think I'm here corrupting our baby with adult entertainment and drugs? It's only a little contact buzz, isn't that right Katie-monster? Only a little contact buzz, your daddy did worse I bet, yes he did? Oh she let out the cutest little happy noise. So I see that your shift is running over, you pulling a double?" She heard him sigh and she wanted to give him a hug.

"Yeah, I was this close to leaving on time when a call came in for a head found in the middle of the road, I'm still en-route. But I thought I should call and see how it's going."

"It's ok; we saw Sara and Katie got introduced to a big dog and she took a nap and right now we're playing watch the keys, oh and the film crew is setting up for a money shot." Greg started laughing.

"God I hope she doesn't end up with your twisted sense of humor. I love you."

"I love you too; try to have a good day."

"I'll try. See you when I get home. Bye baby."

"Bye." Jenna hung up the phone and looked down at the baby and she turned the cd back on and smiled at Katie

_Here on Avenue Q!  
We live on Avenue Q!  
Our friends do too!  
'Til our dreams  
Come true,  
We live on Avenue Q!_

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"So did Sara ever say anything to you about her and Grissom?" asked Nick. Greg readjusted the camera and took another photo of the blood stain on the road. He thought back to when he figured out that Grissom and Sara were together and she really hadn't said yes or no to him when he asked. She told him it was a private and he agreed to keep it quite for her.

"Not in so many words." Nick gave him a shocked look.

"So you knew about the two of them."

"Yeah." He loved the shocked look on Nick's face and kept walking. Nick caught up with him and glared.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Unlike you, I can keep a secret when asked." Greg clicked another picture and noticed the blood trail was getting more spaced out, hopeful this meant a body was close by. Nick looked up at Grissom and sighed.

"It sucks that the team is going to be split again."

"What do you mean?" asked Greg.

"Well members of the same forensic team can't be together so they either break up or someone leaves the team. Knowing Grissom, he'll probably step down or switch shifts and put Cat in charge again. Not that I mind Cat being in charge, I'll just miss the team." Before Greg could say anything, Grissom called them over to the side of the road. Nick and Greg walked over to find the body of the headless boy; they found him wearing a football helmet and were surprised to see the body not wearing a uniform.

"Where's the uniform?" asked Nick.

"Maybe he's a fan; they had some games going last night," said Greg.

"Where's his hand?" asked Grissom pointing out that the kid was missing his left hand.

"It has to be around here somewhere," said Nick. The three of them spent over two hours looking for a missing hand.

Greg felt the muscles in his neck tense up and he realized how out of sync he felt since being off. He had gotten used to sleeping at night and being up during the day. He looked at his watch, it was close to eleven and Katie would be getting fed and Jenna would be faxing back whatever forms Ofilia sent her that morning to sign. He sighed and started to head back to the car with the hand and the body and thought about how they were going to have to tell the kid's parents about their son. _God I hope I never have to be the parent being asked for an id._

They went back to the lab and Greg was documenting the clothing and personal effects from the kid when Nick came in.

"Hey have you found a dragon belt with the effects?"

"Nope, just jeans, shoes, shirt, and the helmet."

"The kid's older brother said Vincent always wore his father's dragon belt from when he was in the service. He said he wore it everyday, but it's not here."

"Nope, not here." Nick looked annoyed.

"According to Hodges the trace we found on the body wasn't normal tire dust, it was dust from a go cart tire." Greg gave him a look.

"A go cart on stretch of desert highway? Why do I have a feeling that nothing will ever surprise me while I work here?"

"A part of the job Greggo. According to his brother, Vincent like to drive the go carts at place called MB2, wanna go for a ride?"

"Sure." Greg put the clothes back in evidence and followed Nick to the SUV.

"Do you have a Safe Kit for Katie yet?" asked Nick.

"You kidding me, I collected one from her when she was still in the NICU. Considering everything we deal with on this job I figured it was better safe than sorry. Catherine told me she even keeps a sample of Lindsey's DNA in her freezer. I need to remember to swab Katie when I get home." Nick sighed and put the SUV into drive.

"It's just a sad state of affairs man when you have to keep your kid's DNA on tap."

"You would do the same," said Greg.

"Considering everything we deal with on this job, hell ya I would. I heard through the lab rat grape vine that Sara had her meeting with Ecklie early this morning, how do you think it went?"

"Is he still alive?" asked Greg.

"Sadly yes. I don't know man it still freaks me out a little that they were dating and no one noticed anything."

"I noticed does that make me a better CSI?"

"Don't make me beat your ass," said Nick.

"I'll just sic Jen on you, she's lethal with a frying pan," said Greg. He leaned back in his seat. "I thought about switching shifts for Jenna and Katie."

"Tell me you're not, please say you're not."

"Why would you miss me?" teased Greg

"You're a part of the team Greggo; it wouldn't be the same without you."

"Jenna convinced me not too that if I got off from my shift on time I could be with Katie during the day and she would spend nights with her. I just feel kind of bad that she's altering her career and I'm not. And has you can see, I'm not getting off shift any time soon. Remind me to sit down with Catherine and ask her how she deals with being a night shift parent."

"It just seems overwhelming right now, you'll get into the swing of it soon enough. You're going to be a good parent G," said Nick and he pulled into a parking spot outside of the go cart place.

"Glad you think so." The two men got out of the car and headed inside to find out about Vincent and how go carts ended up being raced in the middle of nowhere.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Hello," said Jenna reaching over to her side of the bed and answering the cell phone. She didn't hear anything but breathing on her end. "Greg I just got Katie down for a nap and I was napping so stop playing games." The other end was still breathing and Jenna hung up and started looking through her received call list, _Unknown…figures_. Jenna fell back on the bed and went to go back to sleep and the phone rang again. Jenna groaned and answered the phone.

"Listen douche bag. I'm not in the mood for your heavy breathing antics. I'm tried from taking care of a baby and my breasts are sore from nursing so go find some other cell number to call."

"Gee I love you too," said Greg. "Having issues?"

"Nah, just a wrong number calling me while I was trying to nap." Jenna looked over at alarm clock. "It's almost five, you coming home tonight?"

"Yeah for a little bit, we just finished running some tests we needed and we're getting a small break. So the team was thinking about going out tomorrow afternoon to this go cart place and I was wondering if you and Katie would like to come. It's a mini welcome back party for Sara and people have been asking to see Katie since we have her home."

"Sure, I'll even make a cake."

"Have I told you that you're the best?" asked Greg.

"Not recently," Jenna heard Katie start to whine from down the hall. "I have to go your daughter wants me. I'll see you when you get home." Greg hung up and Jenna went to go get Katie when the phone rang again.

"Grand central," answered Jenna. All she heard again was heavy breathing. "Hello….whatever asshole." Jenna hung up the phone and went to her daughter.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna got Katie out of the car seat and headed into the building. She still got a kick out of watching Katie's little eyes go back and forth and try to take things in.

"Oh Katie-monster you are so cute, daddy is going to be happy to see you." Greg went to sleep when he came home, he saw Katie for a few minutes last night and when he got up again, Katie was asleep for the night.

He looked a little depressed when he left last night and while Jenna was exhausted from being up with Katie last night, she knew that this could be a chance for him to spend time with her before he got called back in and he needed that. She used her hip to open the door and walked in. Katie seemed to go into overdrive she was trying to move her head around and her eyes moved even faster. "Relax, the world isn't going anywhere, take your time." She spotted Sara leaning against the fence watching the go carts go around. Jenna walked over to her and she moved Katie so she could look out at the go carts.

"Wow look at her little head trying to pivot, she is an inquisitiveness little monkey," said Sara.

"She gets that from Greg. Both of them can't stay still to save their lives."

"Oh you're preaching to the choir about Greg and the fidgeting," said Sara. The group of carts went around a few more times and Nick beat them all."

"Hahahahaha! In your face guys. Hey Jen, long time no see. Hey there sweetie pie, sorry you had to witness me kick your daddy's butt all over the place," said Nick going up to Katie and shaking her hand. Greg got out of his cart and elbowed Nick.

"Don't talk to my baby girl." Greg reached out and Jenna handed him Katie. "Hi honey, oh daddy is sorry he missed you last night." Greg hugged her and Katie started to make random noises at him. He looked at her and smiled. "Aren't you a little chatterbox today?"

"Wonder who she got that from?" asked Warrick looking down at Katie.

"She had a nap before we came over so she's perky right now. Give her an hour when it's time to eat and you'll see how vocal she gets," said Jenna.

"I was told that there would be cake," said Warrick reaching down and taking one of Katie's hands.

"It's in the car, I couldn't carry the baby, diaper bag and cake carrier all at the same time. I'll be right back," said Jenna walking away. Katie got a fist full of Greg's shirt and looked up at him.

"Hey there baby, you being good like I asked you too?" Katie just grunted at him and she dropped her head back down and put her face in his shirt. "Yeah I thought so."

"She has you wrapped around her little finger doesn't she?" asked Warrick.

"What can I say; I'm a sucker for cute girls." Jenna came back in with the cake carrier in one hand and her cell phone in the other.

"You know I can have this call traced and I can make your life hell…yeah the whole breathing thing is getting old." Jenna hung up the phone and sat the cake down on the table and looked at Greg. "What?"

"Having issues again?" Jenna rolled her eyes.

"Some creep or dumb teenager finds calling me and breathing heavy on the other end funny. You know back in the day when I did crank calls at least we would say something…like you're fridge is running, go catch it, let Prince Albert out of the can. It's just annoying. I have paper plates and stuff in the diaper bag." Greg went to say something when Katie let out a mini cry and started clenching at his shirt.

"What, I'm not paying attention to you am I? I'm sorry sweetie," Greg sat down and sat Katie in his lap so she could face him. "I really did miss you." She looked at him and started to coo at him. Jenna handed Grissom a cake knife and other cake apparel from the bag and let him cut it.

"You didn't need to do this, but thank you," said Grissom.

"It's the first cake I've baked in a long time. So I hope it turned out." The cake was served and Nick spoke up first and looked at Grissom.

"So, now that everything is settled what's going to happen?" Sara bit her lip ad sighed.

"I'm going to move to swing and Gil is going to stay supervisor of nightshift, so it's not like you guys aren't going to see me, besides I really wanna keep this tan going, I have never been this dark in my whole life," she was trying to joke it off, but Greg could tell that she was upset by the fact she had to switch shifts.

"I'm glad you're not leaving us for good," said Warrick and he gave her a hug. Sara gave him a one armed hug.

"Swing starts at four in the afternoon, just think, you'll never have to TIVO an episode of Oprah again," said Catherine.

"I hate daytime TV," said Sara. "I'm hoping to do something other than being a couch potato." Greg handed Katie to Jenna and gave Sara a hug.

"You still have to come to Frank's with me for eggs and pancakes." Sara hugged him back.

"You know how I feel about eating there."

"We'll take my car and we won't leave evidence in it so it won't get stolen and repainted," said Greg.

"I will never live that down," said Nick.

"Nope," said Warrick. Jenna gave them a look.

"I was out of town and Greg never told me that whole story. I know I was able to get one of best cake designers from Cupid's Kiss after it happened…so can I hear the story now?"

"It was just a bad day," said Nick and he reached into the diaper bag, pulled out Katie's bottle and poured some milk into his coffee and took a sip.

"You know that's breast milk," said Greg. Nick spit out the coffee and looked like he was going to be sick.

"Hopeful swing will be this exciting" said Sara.

"Since meeting you guys, it's never been dull," said Jenna.

"Amen to there never being a dull moment," said Catherine. Katie started to shriek and Greg took her back from Jenna and started to calm her down.

"Yep, never a dull moment."

Notes-The songs-Bunnies-from Buffy-Once more with feeling

Avenue Q-Life outside your apartment

Avenue Q- Sucks to be me

Yes if I ever have kids they will subjected to these things…pity them. Oh please go and see the videos from Avenue Q on my youtube link on my profile page here.

Episode references

The baby episode was from Season 1-Gentle, Gentle

Al a Cart-Season 8

And Nick's car being stolen was from Season 6 Rashomama.


	28. A time and place for everything

A time and place for everything

July 2007

It was only eight am on a Sunday and it was already close to 100 degrees. Greg wiped some sweat off his face and focused on processing the outside of the crime scene. The owners of the house were found dead at a local hotel, their six year old daughter was found dead in the house and their other daughter was still missing. Greg sighed and wondered how they could treat their children so differently, the six year old had a room downstairs and was your typical dream room for any little kid and the other girl was locked in the attic with a hive of bees.

However, attic girl was no where to be found and from Greg was hearing through the grape vine they thought maybe a former con man turned preacher man could be responsible for the deaths in the family. He was happy to be working the outside of the scene though; he didn't think he could stand processing the little girl's room. The little girl was about Anya's age and he could easily see Katie having a room like that in five years from now. He shook his head and kept working the scene, the yard was flooded in places from the family running the sprinklers on a timer. Considering there was a almost a drought in Vegas this must of taken time and he wondered how long the family had been gone. Greg sighed and documented one of the puddles in the yard and he noticed something dark at the bottom of it. He reached in and pulled out a handgun, _sloppy people._ He checked to make sure that it was empty before bagging it.

"Hey what you got there?" asked a voice. He turned around and smiled, Sara was ducking under the crime scene tape and walking towards him, her arm had moved from the cast to a sling and the bruises had finally faded.

"Twenty two handgun, this could be the murder weapon." He reached into his vest for a bag and bagged the gun. "You off the clock?"

"Yeah. Good job," said Sara motioning to his find.

"Thanks, so how you doing?" he had seen Sara in passing a few times over the last few weeks and heard she had been assigned a new CSI to train. He knew that she would do a good job; she had done a good job with him when he was still new.

"Well I've had better days," she said motioning to the cast. "You miss you yet?"

"A little more everyday." Sara gave him a smug grin and eyed the scene. "Grissom's in the attic…still." Grissom was taking the bee hive home with him, something about he wanted to study colony collapse disorder. Jenna had mentioned it to him once in passing, something about the price of honey skyrocketing because of bees dying and she was looking into a substitute sweetener. Sara shook her head and laughed.

"We have a boxer and he wants to add bees to the mix. I rather take a baby, how is Katie?"

"Good, she's more entertaining now and stays awake longer. I'm supposed to get her after I get off shift." Sara smiled.

"I should let you finish up here than." Sara headed into the house and Greg made sure the gun was properly bagged and tagged and he put in the SUV. Grissom and Sara came out of the house and Grissom was holding a box filled with bees.

"Greg, I'm going to take the bees and evidence back to the lab, do you have everything here?"

"Yeah I think so; Nick and Warrick collected everything from the house and went back to the lab. I have the outside documented, no signs of forced entry and no tire tracks to be found. I took some prints, but there was nothing on the outside of the windows." Grissom nodded and secured his bees in the back.

"Take the gun to Bobby and have him run it, after that go home and report in later on tonight."

"Sure thing," said Greg and he got in the SUV he came in and headed back to the lab. Greg cranked the AC in the car and fought the urge to strip, Christ it was hot and it was only the middle of summer. He was thankful that Jenna wasn't working in the kitchen with Katie, she had once told the kitchen could get up to 120 to 130 degrees, even with the air on it could get to 110. Jenna had gone back to work two weeks ago and he was a little worried that she was trying to take on to much to fast. She had been talking to Ofilia about buying out another bakery and expanding into it. She had just expanded two years ago and she had just signed a contract to be the provider to MTV when the music awards came out here in September.

She seemed fine, other than her annoyance with her prank caller, who seemed to call her cell phone once or twice a week. He had been trying to talk her into changing her number, but she wouldn't because it was her business line and she would just have to post it on her site and the calls would start up again.

He took her phone one night when she wasn't looking into work to see if Archie could trace the call, no luck on that front it was just a disposal cell. Jenna just chalked it up to some dumb ass teenager getting his jollies off calling her, they only did the breathing thing when she picked up, and when Greg answered they just hung up on him. He pulled into the crime lab and parked in the garage and took the gun up to Bobby. Bobby looked at the gun and smiled.

"Nice piece, its a little water logged."

"Found it in a puddle in the front yard, I swear they get sloppier with every crime scene I work."

"Well that just makes our job easier. This is going to take a couple of hours to clean and dry. I hope day shift is happy, I'm over clocked and I've decided to make use of the boat I'm making payments on. What about you?"

"I'm going to curl up in my apartment with the AC set on full blast and take a nap; hopefully Katie will let me sleep." Bobby logged the gun and both men punched out and Greg headed to his locker to get his shower kit and change clothes when he noticed his personal cell phone going off. He flipped it open and noticed he had a missing text message from Jenna that came around 7 am.

_Can't work today cause of blackouts. Going to buy groceries than home. Later._ Greg decided that since he didn't need to get Katie from Jenna he would just shower and change at home. He didn't even bother taking off his stab vest and headed to his car and cranked the AC and noticed that the temperature inside the car was close to what Jenna told him the kitchen was. He remembered that he didn't have Katie in the car and he reached over and turned on his Marilyn Manson cd and turned it up as loud as he could.

_I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm gone...  
They said that hell's not hot  
They said that hell's not hot  
I gave my soul to someone else  
She must have known that  
It was already sold.  
It was never about her,  
It was about the hurt.  
I'm waiting  
Like a glass balloon  
And I'm fading  
Into the void and then  
I'm gone, I'm gone, I'm gone...  
They said that hell's not hot_

He really did miss Sara, she was his friend and now he hardly ever saw her. While Grissom had played a huge roll in getting him out of the lab, it was Sara who really helped him out and showed overwhelming patience with him while he was training. She was one of the few people who took his desire to not be a lab rat anymore seriously and while he enjoyed working with the other members of the team, he and Sara had become close, like Nick and Warrick, they had gone through some pretty tough cases together and it was that friendship that had helped them get through.

Greg yawned and forced himself to stay awake at the wheel. Nightshift was still short staffed and Ecklie told them that because Days was down to four CSI's and nightshift still had five so they couldn't hire anyone to fill in until Days had replacements. Because of that Greg was pulling more hours, so when it was time to leave he got going so he could spend some time with Jenna and Katie. He sighed and parked in his usual space, leaned back in his seat and sighed. He was exhausted but he was going to try to force himself to stay awake in case Katie was awake and than pass out when Katie went down for her nap, maybe he could even talk Jenna into taking a nap with him. She had been working a little more from home these days since she was just number crunching anymore and even with her doing that he hardly got to spend time with her or Katie. _God I almost miss being in the lab_. He turned off the car and headed upstairs to the apartment, on the plus side he, Jenna and Katie would soon be moving out of here to a place across the street from of all people Nick.

…………………………………………………………………………………………_**..**_

His parents decided to give them the ultimate wedding present, a house. When they heard that Jenna and Greg had taken their house fund and used it to pay Katie's hospital bills off, they turned around and told Greg since they didn't have to pay to put him through college they took what they had saved and invested it and they wanted him to have his college fund. He almost pissed himself when he saw the check.

"This is a joke right?" asked Greg when the check came in the mail from his parents.

"No, why would we do that?" asked Noah.

"Because this is a lot of money that's why."

"Well we saved over $40,000 a year not paying for you to go to college because of scholarships and grants, we just set it aside for a rainy day," said Kari who was on the other line.

"So you and dad aren't retiring?" asked Greg.

"We kept your college fund and retirement separate. Greg just take it and move your soon to be wife and daughter out of there. Your upstairs neighbors scared the hell out of me and really do you want to raise a baby in that school district, I looked into it and it sucks," said Noah.

"Kjæreste, it's an early wedding present. Just take it, if you don't want to use it now you could start Katie's college fund," said Kari. Greg looked at the check and shrugged.

"I would like more house space, maybe one of those yard things…thank you."

"We expect you and Jenna to host Thanksgiving and Christmas so get a house with lots of room," said Kari.

"Just think we'll never have to eat your mother's holiday cooking again," said Noah and Greg laughed when he heard his mother hit his father and start to swear at him in Norwegian.

"We'll try," said Greg. They found a house a few days later and were surprised that the bank accepted their offer and Greg made it a point to be quite and let Jenna and the loan officer figure out the best loan options for them when he got off one afternoon off.

"I hate money math," said Greg later on when they had picked Katie up from Clarissa. Jenna laughed at him and went to run Katie a bath.

"Get used to it you have a kid your life will now be nothing but money math." He walked into the bathroom with Katie and got her undressed.

"They never tell you that in sex ed class about kids." He handed her Katie after Jenna checked the temperature of the water. He sat down next to her and started getting a washrag soapy for Jenna while she washed Katie's hair.

"So we're going to be home owners," said Greg.

"It's scary; it's almost like being an adult. If we were Sims we would have met a goal and that little happy music would be playing." She covered Katie's eyes and started rinsing her hair. Greg started washing Katie and gave Jenna a smile.

"So we have the kid, we're getting the house and how would you feel about setting a date for that wedding thing?" asked Greg. Jenna made sure Greg had a hold of Katie before getting a towel.

"I don't know. I don't want to do it during the peak of wedding season, it's crazy and hellish and people will rob us blind." Jenna handed him the towel and Greg got her out and wrapped her up before the fussing got really bad.

"I know you hate this part of bath time honey, don't worry we'll make it quick." They headed into Katie's room and quickly got her into her diaper and pj's. Greg picked her up again and Katie put her head in his shoulder and started to fiddle with her hair. Jenna grinned at him.

"You want to feed her; I can warm up a bottle for you." Katie had a firm hold on his shirt and he really hadn't got to spend anytime with her for a few days, either he was sleeping, working or Katie was sleeping.

"Could you?"

"I'll be back," said Jenna and she headed to the kitchen. Greg started rubbing her back to ease the fussing and he grinned, he never he would be a sucker for the baby smell that all women talked about. Katie smelled like powder, baby shampoo, Downy and milk. She rubbed her face in his shirt and started to coo at him.

"Hard being a baby isn't it?" Jenna came back in with the bottle and a burp rag for him and she rubbed Katie's head.

"She had a busy day; grandma had to show her off to all the people in the Henderson bakery and than she got shown off around the neighborhood and god knows who else."

"Is she a baby or a show dog?" asked Greg taking the bottle and rag from Jenna and sitting down in the chair and gave Katie her bottle. Jenna sat down on the floor next to him and grinned.

"Your parents would do the same thing. She just excited that she has a grandbaby driving distance from her house." Katie finished half the bottle before her eyes started to droop and she pushed it away from him. He draped the towel over his shoulder and started to burp her, he got two little ones out of her. He waited till he felt the little hand on his shoulder stop opening and closing before putting her in the crib.

"Someone was sleepy," said Greg. Jenna reached into the crib and started to play with Katie's curls.

"I told you she had a busy day. So you want to set a date?" asked Jenna.

"Well if we want people there it helps if they know when we're getting married." They went into the living room and sat down.

"I don't want to do it in the winter," said Greg.

"So cross off from November to February. Ok let's think about this, we want the date to be special. So let's think of special dates in our lives and we'll go from there," suggested Jenna.

"May 28th 2007," said Greg.

"I don't want to get married on Katie's birthday, that's her day. Think of something else," said Jenna.

"September 20th 2005 our first official date." Jenna grabbed her Blackberry out of her purse and started going though the calendar.

"That's on a Saturday next year; it's near the end of wedding season. You don't forget things do you?"

"Not the important stuff." Greg went to kiss her when his work cell phone went off. He groaned and answered it, it was Grissom asking him if he could come in and work a B&E with a possible assault.

"Sure." He hung up the phone and looked at Jenna sadly.

"We'll talk later," said Jenna giving him a hug.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg walked into the apartment and saw Jenna sitting on the sofa, she was biting one of her nails and he could tell that she had been crying the second he looked at her.

"Baby? Honey what's wrong?" Jenna looked at him and she seemed surprised to see him home. She quickly wiped her eyes and went to stand up.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Greg walked over to sofa and made her sit down with him.

"Nothing doesn't make you sit on the couch and cry, come on talk to me." She broke into sobs and she put her face in his chest and started crying. "Hey, hey shush talk to me please." He was worried that she was having some sort of postpartum breakdown. He couldn't figure out what or why she was having one now, she seemed fine and was happy being home with Katie and her workload.

"Is Katie alright?" asked Greg, he knew Jenna would rather douse herself in lighter fluid and take a match to herself before hurting Katie, but he couldn't count the times he had read about good moms just flipping out one day.

"She's fine, she's still sleeping. I just, it's been years and I didn't think he would upset me like this and…" Jenna just kept her face in his vest and kept crying.

"Honey who upset you? Come on look at me." He lifted her face up and wiped away some of the tears. "Now tell me what happened, who upset you like this?" Jenna took a deep breath and held his hand tight.

"I was leaving the store and was putting the bags in the car and I went to put Katie in the car and that's when he came up to me."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"She looks just like her mommy," said a male voice. Jenna nearly dropped Katie; thankfully it was in the car and near Katie's car seat. She quickly got her in her seat and shut the door to the car. She put the sharpest key she could between her fingers and looked at who was speaking to her. Andy was standing not even a foot away from her he gave her a loop sided grin and started walking towards her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Jenna and she started moving towards the driver side of the car.

"I just want to talk; I've been trying for weeks. I always get cold feet though."

"Have you been calling my cell and hanging up?"

"You caught me." He got closer to her and Jenna went to get into the car when Andy got up to the car and he shut the door. "I just want to talk to you." He grabbed her wrist and looked at her.

"Just five minutes."

"I have nothing to say to you." He gripped her wrist a little tighter and Jenna tensed up her grip on the keys in her hand. "Let go of me before I make you very sorry."

"I've cleaned my act up, no more gambling, no more drinking. Haven't done either one of those things for over three years now. I just want to talk to you, I've missed you."

"I don't care, let me go." She went to pull her wrist out of his grip and he held on tighter and squeezed it hard and it almost brought tears to her eyes. She went to hit him with the keys but he grabbed her other wrist before she could. He had her back to the car and she could hear Katie start to fuss at her. _It's ok baby…_

"Damn it Jen I just want to talk. I owe you an apology for what happened between us and maybe make it up to you."

"You can't make up what you did; nothing can ever make up for what you did! You stole from me and family and you made me lose my baby…"

"Our baby," corrected Andy.

"You think I would let you be near it after what you did? I would rather raise a baby a street corner than with a cowardly thief who is also a closet drunk and gambling addict." People in the parking lot were starting to look at the pair and Katie's crying was getting louder. "Let go of me before someone calls the cops." Andy let go of both her wrists and Jenna got in the car and went to shut the door when Andy stopped her.

"We'll talk later."

"No we won't." He moved his hand and she shut the door and Jenna threw the car into drive and peeled out the parking lot and sped home.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Greg took Jenna's left hand in his and studied the bruise around her wrist, she had always bruised easily and right now it was a light purple color ring. He frowned and he held on to her while she cried the story into his vest. _Bastard._ Greg had seen one picture of Andy from when he and Jenna were teenagers and he was a big guy then, over 6'3. Jenna barely topped 5'5 and Greg thought about how easy it would have been for him to really hurt her and how he had in the past and it pissed him off even more.

"I don't know why I'm so upset," said Jenna pulling away from him and wiping her eyes.

"Because he threatened you, you should have called me right away."

"I just got home a little bit ago, Katie went to sleep in the car and I just put her to bed and came out here when you came home." She put her head on his shoulder and they were quite for awhile, both of them trying to get their thoughts in order. Greg spoke up first.

"Minhi told me that the doctor who treated you when miscarried filed a police report, they have to when they suspect domestic abuse. The doctor thought Andy pushed you because you fell down the stairs and had some other bruises. Is that true, did he push you down the stairs?" Jenna sighed and bit her lip and decided to tell Greg the whole story.

"I told you about how I found out about Andy stealing the ten grand from the bakery. He did it by forging my name on withdrawal slips and I came home to confront him about it he wasn't there and while I was waiting for him to get back I was packing his stuff and he came home and he was hammered, could hardly stand up. He got sober real quick when I threw a vase at his head and confronted him about all the missing money. We fought, I told him that I wanted him out of my mother's home and I never wanted to see him again. I went to walk downstairs and he grabbed my arm and he pulled me towards him and I pulled away and we started to have the tug of war and I don't know how but he lost his grip and I fell down the stairs."

"I lost my baby and if he hadn't have stolen that money, I wouldn't have been home and I wouldn't have fallen down the stairs. I know Minhi told me the baby would have died anyone because it was in the tube, but it would have been different, I could have accepted that, it was just a fluke of nature, not because someone I trusted screwed me over. I found out that he had been gambling and drinking behind my back on jobs he was supposed to be working and according to some rumors screwing my temps too. I grew up with him and I thought I knew him and that he cared about me. I just…I was so dumb; we broke up once because he didn't respect me and my decisions. But he was so different when I came home to take care of my mom, he was sweet and nice and all the things that reminded me of you. I wanted you, but I couldn't have you so I went with a substitute." Greg was quite and he just hugged Jenna.

"It wasn't your fault and at least you were smart enough and brave enough to get out of it when you realized what you were dealing with. I can't count how many scenes we've had to work where someone was too dumb to leave. I love you and I won't let him near you anymore, he can't hurt you ever again ok. If you want to press charges, we'll go right now to PD." He was hoping she would just to put the bastard in his place and so if he came near her again it would establish a record of harassment and eventually a place in jail cell.

"I don't want to see him again Greg, I just want, I don't know what I want."

"Ok, you don't have to press charges, but I want to take pictures of your wrist, to document it in case you change your mind," he said quickly when he noticed the look on her face.

"I'm not a victim don't treat me like one please."

"I know that you're not a victim and I don't mean to treat you like one, I just want you to be safe and this way if you change your mind you have some thing to show. Ok?" Jenna sighed and nodded at his kit.

"You gonna dust me for prints too?" She was trying to joke with him and Greg gave her a grin.

"Maybe." He got his kit and pulled out a ruler and got their digital camera. "Ok, put your hand on the table palm up." He put the ruler down on her wrist and started clicking pictures of her wrist. He frowned looking at her wrist, the finger marks were deep and he had a feeling he left DNA and fingerprints on her to collect. Greg finished taking pictures and getting what he needed from her and he put it all in one bag and put in the closet.

"We done CSI Sanders?" asked Jenna.

"Yeah we're good. You gonna be ok?" Before Jenna could answer Katie started to cry from her room and Greg just looked at Jenna and they grinned.

"Your baby's calling you," said Jenna. Greg got up and they headed into Katie's room. She was kicking her legs and whining. Greg reached into the crib and got Katie out of her crib.

"Hey sunshine, daddy's home. I'm so happy to see you." Katie started to make random noise at him and Greg hugged her. "What, what…I know what you need…tickle time." He tickled her and she let out a small scream in his ear and it looked like she gave him a small smile." Jenna just looked at them and grinned.

"I really don't know who the bigger kid is here?" She went over to them and started blowing little raspberries on Katie's neck. "I'm fine." She told Greg and gave him a hug. "So should I tell my mom and your parents to clear the calendar for September 20th 2008 or would you like to do the honors of giving people the save the date cards?"

"Why don't we sit them down together when my parents come here for Katie's christening and we'll tell them together we have a date?" He noticed that Katie was a little funky and handed her to Jenna.

"Wimp!" cried Jenna.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Jenna's cell went off while she was feeding Katie before Greg went on shift. He looked down at the caller id and it was unknown. He picked up and took it into the bedroom and flipped it open.

"Look Jen I just want…" started Andy.

"You stay away from her," said Greg.

"Who is this?" demanded Andy.

"I'm Jenna's soon to be husband and I'm only going to tell you once, stay away from her. You come near her again and I will find a way to make you sorry. Do you understand me?" Greg heard the dial tone in his ear and hung up the phone and went into Katie's room were she was nursing. "I have to head out, see you in the morning."

"I'll see you in the morning, I love you," said Jenna.

"Love you more." Greg left the apartment and knew the first person he was going to tell about the set wedding date would be Sara, hell maybe he would even ask her to be the best man.

Fin

Notes-Episode-Go to Hell

Song-Marilyn Manson-They said that hell's not hot

I plan on writing another fic picking up where this left off after season eight final in May, (I need my TV fix most badly…I curse the networks for putting my two favorite shows on at the same time The Office and CSI) Plus I want to see if I can weave what I have planned into season 8 or do I have to go against it a lot!!!! The drama will go on.

So until May, I hope you enjoyed the story and I thanks to those who left reviews and put me on your fav list!


	29. A writer's note

A writer's note

I was trying to edit some chapters and the whole story got deleted somehow so I had to repost the whole thing and I'm very, very sorry to those who got 29 notice e-mails! *bad me!*


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